


Order of the Girls

by IdiotsPartyof5



Category: Original Work
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-08
Updated: 2016-05-29
Packaged: 2018-04-08 09:27:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 24,174
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4299552
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IdiotsPartyof5/pseuds/IdiotsPartyof5
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Okay, so this is basically an all-girls vigilante team kicking but and saving the world. What could possibly go wrong?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Oh yeah, this is a serious WIP, I'm like not even close to finished yet, but if you want to suggest stuff/read as I go along, feel free. Enjoy!

It was like the setting for one of those cheesy 1920’s era detective movies. Raining, at night, in a dark office with nothing but a streetlight cutting through the window to illuminate the office. I couldn’t help but glance around the dim room. There was a darkened fireplace on the wall opposite of me. On it, I could glimpse a golden picture frame, though the details of the photograph were indistinguishable in the gloom. It seemed like a couple in the photo. I could laugh at that. If this was who I thought it was, the thought of someone loving her was… laughable. At best.

Beside the fame, I noticed a small brass globe. Fancy. A little out of place for who I thought it was, but the way the light glinted off of it certainly helped with the mood.

Moving on from the fireplace, I looked over the big, dark desk in front of me. A lot of the details were pretty obscure. She didn’t have a lot on it. A computer worth more than gold with what I did in life that got me here. If I could get the information off of that thing… I’d have won. That’s why I’ll never get that information. I know that. A large swivel chair, with a high back, sits behind the desk. It was pitch black. I could see slender arms resting on the arm rests.

The chair was turned around so I couldn’t see the woman’s face, but she spoke with a sort of… dark certainty. Of what, I wasn’t sure of yet. “So, you think your team is the best of the best, hmm?”

“I should have known,” I say in response. It all was starting to come together now. The note, the black car, the setup for this meet… only she would do this. But even I knew this wasn’t her headquarters. She wasn’t that dumb. She had a plan for how this would end. Luckily, so did I, but she didn’t know that… yet.

“Listen, honey, talk isn’t cheap in our world. Is your team the best or not?”

I narrow my eyes at getting called honey, but I respond, “We’re certainly nothing to spit at.”

“Honey, in our world, you’re either the best, or you’re nothing. I have a good hold on this kingdom, and I won’t go down without a fight. If I were you, I would give up while you can.”

“Your kingdom is collapsing, your majesty. People are pretty uneasy around here. I wouldn’t flaunt it too much, if I were you. I doubt it would be too hard for my team to slip in through the already present cracks and turn your team into the rubble leftover in the end.”

The chair turns, and in the dim light, all I see is a glimpse of brown hair and the beginnings of a scar behind her ear. But it’s enough for me to be certain I know who I’m talking to. Just who I thought.

No name. I haven’t got a clue what her real name is. But in our world, she doesn’t need it. She’s the Scar. It’s not really even that good, I’ve heard a lot of stories about it being some kind of rookie nickname that stuck with her. But we all had those, I think. Mine was Lady Rage.

“You don’t have a clue who you’re messing with.” Her voice catches me by surprise. I almost detect a hint of nerves in her voice. Almost. Maybe I’m mistaken. She’s good. I’m better. I hope…

“Maybe. Or maybe it’s you who should learn to not underestimate her enemies.”

She turns her chair back around. “Go home, honey. You’re not ready for this world. You’re still a pup in our dog eat dog world. You probably still think you’re getting out alive.”

I snicker. “You probably thought I came alone.”

A pause. Then, “It is what the note said, isn’t it?”

I roll my eyes. “You think I’m some naïve little flower child who follows every note to the T? This isn’t my first time to the rodeo, Scar. As we speak, your men waiting on the roof are probably already down, and the cars’ tires are all slashed at this point. I think you’ll find your backup men for if the roof snipers failed are already incapacitated, and the only thing you have left are your personal bodyguards. You know, the ones who never leave your side?”

She’s silent for a while. “All right, then. I’ll give, you’re good. But I doubt you outnumber us. There are more of us than you can ever guess, honey, it’ll take a lot to collapse this world.”

I shrug, choosing to remain silent. After a moment, she says, “I suppose I’ll let you walk this time, honey. I’ll even put out a call to all my men still standing.”

Perfect. But… “While I’m still standing here.”

“You _don’t_ call the shots around here, honey.”

“Not with you, maybe. But one word from me, and all your men—who are, after all, still alive—will be gone. You’ll make the call with me standing here if you don’t want the start of your collapse to be tonight.”

I can practically _hear_ her lips curl back into a snarl. But after a moment, all I hear is, “Call to all men standing, Attempted Up and Rising is walking out alive tonight, repeat, Attempted Up and Rising is walking out alive tonight. No copy required.”

I saw her set a walkie on the desk behind her, and smile. “That’s what I thought. I’ll be going now.”

“Watch your back out there, honey.” That’s all I needed to hear from her to know. She knew I was bluffing. She underestimates me. She doesn’t think I can come close to her.

She’s wrong.

“Maybe it’s you who’ll need to keep an eye out.” Okay, not my wittiest retort.

With that, I walk out.


	2. Chapter 1 (Vanessa)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meet the team! Also, introducing the only pairings this book has to offer! And yeah...

Look, I didn’t wake up one morning like, _Gee, wouldn’t it be fun to gather a group of girls, become spies, and try to topple the world’s leading dark side player?_

It sort of just… happened.

We weren’t affiliated with anyone but ourselves. The government didn’t know we existed. Nobody knew who we were, unless we found them. That was rare still, because we preferred to remain anonymous and hidden to the public as of yet. We didn’t know how she’d found us, but we stayed in our shadows all the same.

This morning, however, was not a super-cool Hollywood image of a day in the life. Today, I was late as hell, and, as I’m _not_ Celeste, I don’t just… run. I’m not fast.

I’d woken up in a cold sweat, my night’s rest disturbed by the dream shifting from memories of the meeting with the Scar to a different, harsher ending. One where she’d called my bluff, and I didn’t make it out. One where… one I couldn’t think of. The fear from it, the shock of it had caused a delay in getting ready this morning.

Lucky me, I was able to get away with late. Well, not exactly get away with, but I wasn’t gonna get in trouble over it. I was… technically the boss. To look at us, there was no real boss, but if you had to ask and we had to choose… it was me. I was the one who brought all of us together in the first place. I glance in the reflection of the doors as I open them, taking a moment to survey my face.

There’s me, “boss” and the smooth talker. I had trained myself to play many roles in case of capture or police interrogation, from victim to witness to bystander to even perpetrator (Yes, I’ve needed to do it. Gets me access to certain prisoners). I always had a plan, and alongside all the acting, I’m the one who can calm people into opening up to us or trick them into helping us. I guess there was something about the scrappy dark hair and thin, but nerdy, glasses that caused people to feel at ease.

Today, as I ran into our office/headquarters, I spotted Maddi at her computer. “Hey. Meeting time shifted, you’ve got about ten minutes, can you put out the message to the rest of the girls?”

She turns. “Morning to you, too. I’m on it.”

Maddi, well, Madison, but don’t call her that—she’ll kill you, was in charge of the information we had, keeping it sorted and thought out, and watching for leaks or hacks. Maddi and I had met in chemistry class two years ago with some of the others. Hard to believe we were in a chemistry class two years ago. Okay, so it was hard to believe there _was_ a chemistry class two years ago, same difference.

As I reach the meeting room, I find, unsurprisingly, Celeste already waiting, her curly hair pulled back out of her face, possibly by the sheer force of her running speed. It’s about then I realized I didn’t grab a cup of hot cocoa. I get that every morning, since I’m not a coffee or tea drinker and I need something in the mornings.

I know there’s a machine at about the entrance of the building. If I’m gonna be good through this meeting, I’m gonna need it, but I’ve got about five minutes left.

I glance at Celeste. “Hey. You know I hate to ask it, but since I woke up late this morning—“

“Say no more. Back in a flash!” Celeste smiles slightly, something rare even before the Scar, getting up and taking off. I hear a few gasps and what sounds like people throwing themselves at the wall to avoid getting flattened. I smile, shaking my head, glancing over my notes and organized work.

Celeste was the legs of the team. She was obsessed with keeping her calves perfect and the rest had just… happened. We’d met in chemistry, too. She was our hacker queen, the reason we found what we could online. We also kept her in charge of weapons. She had a scary knowledge of them. If we weren’t doing what we were doing, it would be weird how much she knew. Finally, if we needed to make a drop, or get something, to or from Teresa, we used Celeste. She could run right by and make the slip without anyone ever noticing her even being there.

Then, Addi walks in. “Took ya long enough.”

I smile. “Morning, Addi.”

“Morning, Nessa. Any good news?”

“I try to find out at the same time you do, Addi. You know that.”

Addi nods, laughing a bit. “Just thought I’d ask.”

Addison has been my best friend since I was a baby. With hair a bit lighter than mine and thick framed glasses, we could pass for sisters. And we did, when we needed to. We’d known each other for so long we practically had a telepathic connection. When one of us needed the other, we could almost sense it.

As I notice Maddi and Natasha coming down the hall, Celeste comes breezing past, handing me a cup of hot cocoa. I smile my thanks as I take it. “You ever think about switching to decaf?”

“I don’t drink coffee, either, Vanessa.”

I shrug, watching Maddi and Natasha come in, with Jesse and Layla behind them. We’d all met over the past three years at school. Natasha, our fashion queen and disguise mistress, and I had met in chemistry as well, but Layla, Jesse, and I met in French three years ago. Layla was our master of distraction, whether getting a single mark’s attention away from us or getting a crowd into a frenzy. Jesse, our bodyguard, was dark, with no real warm side to her. I trusted her because I knew how closed off she was. She didn’t have a real “soft side” to her. I don’t know if the others trust her, but I do. I trust all of my girls.

They all had their skills. They were brilliant at what they did. They had been since the day I’d met them. They oozed confidence when we met. I used to be confident, too. Well, I could pretend I was, so close enough. It was higher in me then than it is now. I was someone else when I met them. Sure, we’d all changed. We’d grown up in the span of two years. Way more than we should have. Where did I fit in with them now?

Maddi clears her throat. “There’s been no news from Teresa. We only assume she’s in the middle of something big. As far as I know, her cover’s still secure.”

Teresa was our double agent in the dark side of our line of work. She was the one looking into leads, tracking down enemies, and getting insider intel. It’s been a long while since we’d heard from her, but it was nothing new. She was known for closing herself off from us a lot. She didn’t have a choice.

Of course Maddi had brought her up. Sometimes I forgot the two were in a relationship. About a year strong. They were some beacon of hope within this nightmare world. We never see Teresa anymore. I can’t imagine what Maddi’s going through with that. I pity her.

I look around, making a head count. We were all here, except… where was…

That’s when Elizabeth walked in.

Even in casual clothes, she looked pretty damn perfect. A pretty, figure-hugging black tank top with blue jeans was all she really had on today, but she knew how to look good in even that. It was part of her skills. Elizabeth was our femme fatale. Give her an hour and she’ll have a guy eating out of her hand, and we can sponge him for information. Then, she could drop him without a thought.

She was so beautiful. Her long, dark hair had a reddish color to it, from the way she dyed it, and she accented her beautiful face with only the lightest accent of makeup. She knew what she was doing. I practically worshipped her abilities to manipulate the men we went after.

She smiles at me, a pretty smile that any trained professional in our line of work should see right through, not that they ever do. I was one of those trained professionals, but even the regular professionals couldn’t resist that grin. How was I supposed to? Wait, what? “Morning, Nes. How’s life?”

I smile a bit at her. “Life’s life, isn’t it? And yourself, Liz?”

“Hectic as ever. I think… well, I hope we’re getting close on the Scar’s case. Things would calm down a lot for all of us if that could just… happen.”

I nod my agreement, and then, still smiling, turn back to the group, double checking my head count. Satisfied, I turn to Maddi, a warm smile on my face. “Well, let’s open it with you. What’d you find?”

“It took some digging, but I found a very weak link. All of the known operatives have, at some point in their lives, eaten once at the same diner. Never all together, and all at extremely varying years. There were no customers there who were consistently there to link them further, which suggests it’s one of the workers out there, so far, though, all I have is the diner. But it’s a start,” she replies, smiling. The limitations of our skills… eh. What can you expect from a bunch of teenagers?

 “Celeste, how’s that laptop from that raid coming along?”

“It’s a lot harder than I expected. Every time I decrypt a file, there are eight more encrypted ones in it, all with a different code. I didn’t think it was possible to be this paranoid.”

I sigh. “Do we have anything at all?”

“Um, actually, Nes,” Elizabeth begins.

I ignore the shock of pain as my head snaps to turn towards her. “Yeah?”

“I was working with Maddi the other day, looking over all those files on the known associates, and I noticed that one guy’s between girls right now. He’s high ranking on the Scar’s list, and I thought, who knows, maybe he knows something. But then, I figured, maybe, well, I ran his name, and he’s gonna be hosting some kind of big dinner party, which would be a great time for us, to, well, get in, and I thought, well…”

I could kiss her. I kinda sorta really wanted to, for whatever reason. Instead, I grin. “Perfect. You, Layla, and Natasha will go in disguised as guests. Maddi, Celeste, and I will be monitoring all activity on mics and security feeds, which I’m sure Celeste can get into easier than she can get into that stupid old laptop. Jesse will be waiting as backup if necessary, and Addi will be in charge of the quick getaway if needed. When is it?”

“…tomorrow night,” Elizabeth ducks her head. As to how I didn’t know about this sooner, I don’t know. I assume she got busy. She was easily distracted, and easily distracting. On an unrelated note, I have no idea where that thought came from. Sometimes, I’ve noticed the strangest thoughts come into my head when I’m around her. It’s hard to talk straight and forming sentences around her can be a little… weird. I don’t know why. It’s been like that for a few years now. I just… I can’t control it, and I can’t explain it.

I smile, though on the inside I’m cringing. I kinda do that with Elizabeth a lot. Embarrassingly enough. “We can work with that. Nat, what are you gonna need?”

“Let me get back to you on that,” she replies, already thinking on it.

I sigh, nodding, looking at them all. “I suppose we’ll all need time on this. Addi, can you call in a favor to get the ride, and Celeste, can you forge the invites?”

“Born for that. I need a break from the laptop anyways,” Celeste replies.

Addi just nods. “I’m on it, Nessa.”

I nod, looking at them all. “All right, girls. Let’s get ready for tomorrow night. But I won’t fight you if you keep up research on current leads.”

Everyone nods, but before I can give anyone the go ahead, I point to Celeste. “And you are now, under my orders, forbidden to drink grape soda when off a mission, so, when we’re not on a mission or getting super prepared for one, lay off the caffeine. For crying out loud.”

She makes a face, but nods, and I let everyone go. Celeste, as usual, runs off for her desk, anxious to get to work. The others file out at different paces, mostly casual ones. Elizabeth lingers at the door with a smile back at me, and then slowly leaves the room and saunters back to her desk. Damn.

Soon, it was just Addi and I left. She looks at me. “You think this is a good idea?”

“You have a better one?”

“We’ve never planned to do something like this in a day before, Nessa. But you want to do it now?”

“It’s a good chance, Addi. You know how good Elizabeth is, she can get information out of this guy no problem. I just want this to be a whole team thing for protection and to identify other unknowns.”

“You’re sure this is a good idea?”

“Well, what other choice do we have?!” I snap. “Let this one slip by? Threaten losing a big potential help from some guy seduced by the queen femme fatale herself? I don’t think so!”

“You’re not answering me, Vanessa.”

“I don’t know, Addi. I have no idea if it’s a good idea or not. I just… we had that meeting, it’s the closest we’ll be for quite some time if we don’t COME UP WITH SOMETHING. So I’m sorry that I’m not exactly answering you.”

She nods slowly, sighing. “I thought so.” She didn’t elaborate on what she’d been thinking that she’d realized, instead taking off, simply leaving me alone in the conference room.

We’d been like this for years, Addi and I. We would always say an incomplete thought and act like the other completely understood what we were talking about. In this case, I had no idea what she was talking about, and it bothered me. What was she going on about? And why did she and the other girls (never Elizabeth, I’ve noticed) seem to have some joke going on about the two of us, but as to what, I had no idea. I picked at my nails.

I downed my hot cocoa, sighing as I left the cup in a corner trash can, heading back to my office. I was the only one with a closed off office. Technically, this place had been abandoned, and we’d made our own power supply out of necessity, but that probably made sense, we were just teenagers who did some stupidly illegal stuff to save our world. I wasn’t entirely sure that it balanced out like it should, but it was close enough that I hoped we could be excused when it was all said and done. We needed that much. We’d lost too much now to be arrested when all was over. Hopefully, we wouldn’t be caught before it was all over.

This was something that needed to be done, and it seemed to me, to all of us, that nobody was trying to stop it. Whether it was corruption, or fear, I wasn’t sure, but I know that nobody else was trying what we were. We knew we were the closest to her. We didn’t know exactly where she was, but it was here. Our hometown.

The oldest girls here were eighteen already. I was one of them. The youngest recently turned seventeen. Sure, we weren’t young. But technically, we should still be in school. Society saw us as younger. And we were doing what the police weren’t. How stupid is that? And it’s pretty cliché, too, that the people in power are doing nothing to help the poor people with no power to do anything to help themselves. It wasn’t right, so, no matter how cliché it was, we were trying to help. We had to.

This wasn’t for the faint of heart. We’d known that when we’d started. I’d warned them from day one. The only comment I’d received was Celeste asking me if I thought _I_ could handle this.

Could I? That was a question I’d been wrestling with lately. I wasn’t really sure if I could. I acted like I could take on the world, but really… I was scared. I was a child at heart, this wasn’t what I was made for. But then, I wasn’t made for losing my nieces to the Scar’s actions. And I wouldn’t be the girl who cowered at the death of her family. I couldn’t be now, even if I wanted to. The girls were counting on me now. And I had to be strong for them. I continued picking at my nails, thinking as I walked towards the office.

When I got back to my office, I shut the door, and groaned loudly into the empty room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I kind of want the ship names to be Valizabeth and Madesa. They're adorable.


	3. Chapter 2 (Celeste)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's friendship, friendship...

I was running through the entire office, heading towards Vanessa’s with some of my work from today, when I saw Layla walking right out in my path, and promptly tripped over my own two feet trying to stop. Following that, I crashed into the floor, a desk, and part of me hit a filing cabinet before it was all over, producing a massive crash. _Ow!_

Layla looks up when she hears the crash, laughing a bit as she sets the file she’d been going through on her desk and walking over, helping me up. “You all right?”

I just sighed, jumping up as I replied, “Yeah, just fine. What’re you reading up on?”

“Elizabeth gave me her copy of the file on the guy we’re looking into tomorrow. He’s a real sleaze. I’m worried for Elizabeth on this one.”

“You’re starting to sound like Vanessa. Elizabeth can handle herself just fine.”

“It’s a good thing when you worry, you know, Celeste. It’s nice to show you have human emotions.” But Layla was probably amused by my comparison, not that I cared. She knew just as much as the rest of us did that Vanessa and Elizabeth were totally into each other to the point of mild obsession.

I rolled my eyes. “I have emotions. But they don’t help in this line of business.”

“So what? Don’t think of yourself as an agent, think of yourself as a person. It sucks to give up one’s individuality for the sake of protecting oneself.”

“I didn’t think you’d be the one getting deep.”

“You and Vanessa are rubbing off on me. What’s that?” she asks of the blueprints I’d found after a minor hack. These would help us greatly during this mission.

“Oh, right. I need to go talk to Vanessa. I found something that’ll probably help us a lot tomorrow.”

Layla nods, waving me on. “If you have something, get it to her. You know how she is about this stuff.”

“Yeah, okay. See you later,” I respond, taking off running for Vanessa’s office. I was glad that was over. Layla and I kept our conversations as short as possible when possible. I really can’t stand her. I’m civil with her for Vanessa, because she wants us to get along for this. But I could do without her.

That comment about my emotional state hit hard. I knew she questioned why I was here. Maddi and Natasha didn’t, but the rest of them probably all did. Maddi and Natasha were the only ones who see first-hand how close Vanessa and I are. The rest of them didn’t know. They didn’t know about the late nights where my emotions finally broke through, and the only person I could turn to was Vanessa. We joked that I brought up my emotions and she brought down hers to understand each other, and usually, that was true.

But after what happened, after the Scar… after my family, I couldn’t stand myself. I couldn’t stand anything about the way the world went. And it hurt. I didn’t know what to do. That’s where Vanessa came in. Before she lost everything and almost everyone, she had been there. She was all I had. She kept me sane. She took care of me. She was younger than me, but Vanessa had been like an older sister in the time between my loss and hers. What I went through, whatever pain I experienced, she went through, and experienced. She never let me cry it out alone. Talking to her had helped. But everything changed after what happened to her.

The way I see it, she lost her strength in one area but gained it in another. She gained physical strength. She had new skills to help her in our fight out here. Her emotional strength, her will to carry on… that weakened. A lot. And it wasn’t strong to begin with. One time, right after the incident, she’d said that nobody was left for her. That she wasn’t needed. I told her I needed her. She was still here, so there was that. We needed each other at this point. There was a dependence nobody could truly understand, not even Maddi and Natasha. They just can’t understand. Why should they have to? We’re nothing alike to talk to or even to look at.

I glance at Vanessa as she steps out of her office. Well, we weren’t. We used to be so different, complete opposites. I don’t know what happened. But I miss Vanessa for who she was. She was pretty strong, emotionally and physically. She didn’t see the second half in herself until now. Even now, she doesn’t see what she can do. I know she’s capable of so much more. That was what had convinced me to join this team. Knowing her. Knowing what she can do. Knowing how strong she is.

“Celeste!” Her voice breaks my train of thought.

I smile. “Hey, Vanessa! Look what I’ve got…!”

I hand her the blueprints. Her eyes light up as she takes them from me. “Oh. My. God. You’re incredible!”

“I know,” I reply, grinning. “Your invitations are ready to print. I just wanted to see if you wanted to use aliases or real names. He has the guest list saved on his cloud, I’m working on that right now.”

“Perfect, thanks, Celeste. You’d be better off asking Natasha on the alias thing. I think she’s in her workshop.”

“Got it,” I reply, starting to take off.

Before I can, Vanessa grabs my arm. “Wait a sec, Celeste. I wanted to ask you something.”

“What?” I ask her, looking back at her.

“Do you think… well, this gonna sound kind of silly, but… do you think we can pull this off? We never really do something like this without planning weeks ahead.”

“I’m more than confident we’ll all be fine, Vanessa. Is that it?”

“No, uh, well…”

“It’s about Elizabeth, isn’t it?”

Vanessa looks at me, then nods, automatically picking at and trying to rip off the ends of her nails. Of course this was about Elizabeth. When wasn’t it about Elizabeth? Don’t get me wrong, I mean, we all know Vanessa cares about us, but Elizabeth… there was something about her, I guess. I didn’t see it, but you know, whatever. I wasn’t supposed to be the one who noticed. “Do you think she can do this? This guy’s…” Vanessa asks.

“A creep, freak, sleaze, potential rapist? Don’t worry, Vanessa. Elizabeth can handle herself just fine.”

“I know, but…”

“And she’s been in this kind of situation before. You know that. She knows exactly what she’s doing.”

“But this isn’t your run of the mill sleaze, creep, etcetera. He’s also high up in the chain of command working for Scar. He could be a lot worse than any of the others.”

“And you think Elizabeth hasn’t thought of this? She’ll do just fine, Vanessa. We both know that. She’d probably only get nervous if you were nervous, knowing her.”

Vanessa nods slowly, sighing, though she seemed puzzled by my last statement. Of course she was, she was completely oblivious to her own feelings as well as Elizabeth’s. “Yeah, you’re right.”

“Is that it?”

Vanessa nods, and I smile, nodding to her. “I’ll go talk to Nat, then.”

She nods, and I take off running towards the old storage unit converted into an incredibly well styled workshop for Natasha. She needed it, I knew that much. Natasha and I agreed and got along well on one main thing: fashion. In fact, if I wasn’t needed in weapon work, I think Vanessa would have put me in charge of clothes. I know she would, come to think of it. I was obsessed. But I knew weapons and technology like nobody else did, and she needed me in those areas more than she needed me in fashion. So, Natasha was in charge of fashion and I helped her. This led to a few disputes over the outfits but we tried our best.


	4. Chapter 3 (Layla)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Layyyyyyyyyyyyyyyylaaaaaaaaaaa

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case you're wondering (former reader), I have rewritten Nina to be Layla due to personal writer things.

After Celeste took off, I headed to Elizabeth’s desk to give her back her file. I hate Celeste. I can’t understand how Vanessa stands her but I doubt I’ll ever understand it. I guess I’d have to be around the two together more, but I was going to spend as little time around Celeste as humanly possible. She drives me nuts. I just don’t get how she can be so… awful. But then, I’m biased, with her being my ex-girlfriend.

Honestly, I don’t think anyone understands Celeste like Vanessa does, and vice versa. We all know Addison and Vanessa are close, but… there was something the two had that even Addison and Vanessa didn’t share. We all acknowledged that the two were close, even if we didn’t understand how. It was like Vanessa bringing in Jesse. We didn’t know or understand Jesse much, and we still don’t. But Vanessa’s close to her. I think.

Elizabeth looks up when she sees me, smiling politely. Elizabeth, on the other hand, I understood. Besides the fact Vanessa was completely crazy for her. Elizabeth was sweet, and friendly. Strange, considering how we’d lived these past few years, but I wasn’t questioning it. I was thankful for it. “Hey! What’s up?”

“Just here to give you your file back,” I reply, handing it over. “And to warn you of dangers I’m sure you probably already know about.”

“As if the email from Nessa wasn’t enough,” Elizabeth jokes, and I note a clear shift in her entire demeanor when she mentions Vanessa’s nickname. A personal one from her, too. Nobody else calls Vanessa that.

Her body language shifts from casual and relaxed to suddenly more interested, a lot more excited. Her expression softens, becoming a lot happier, and it looks like her face… I guess you could say it lit up. She was really in love with Vanessa, but I’m not sure she knew she was. I knew Vanessa didn’t realize how she felt for Elizabeth, but as to Elizabeth… well, I couldn’t tell. That surprised me a lot. I usually can tell.

Of course, everyone but Elizabeth who worked here noticed Vanessa reacted the same way when Elizabeth was mentioned. The two had something there, whether or not they saw it. Everyone else did, but you know. We were outside parties observing this. It was adorable, and like a little office soap opera for us, so we kept our mouths shut.

I smile a bit. “She’s worried. She’s talking to everyone who walks by now, asking them questions to see if their answers will ease her worries at all. She stopped me on my way back to my desk earlier.”

“And have they soothed her at all?”

“I don’t know, but I don’t think so. Then again, you know Vanessa.”

Elizabeth nods, sighing a bit. “She’s always been a giant worrywart. It scares her that we’re rushing in practically completely blind, and it worries her that she’s putting us in there with such a dangerous guy. But we’ll be fine. We always are, am I right?”

I nod in agreement. “Yeah, you’re right. I’d go talk to Vanessa, though. You know how worried she can be.”

“Yeah, I do. I will, I promise, Layla. Anything else?”

 “Nope, that’s it, thanks.”

She shrugs, smiling still. “Well, I’ve got to figure out a way to talk to Nessa to make her worry less.”

I nod slowly, chuckling. “Okay, I’ll let you get to that. Good luck. Please do it soon, she’s kinda… freaking out.”

“Yeah, I know how she is. I’ll take care of it, I promise. I know the whole place is a little strange when Nessa’s intense. I’ll get going here in a moment.”

“Don’t let me hold you up,” I reply, smiling. “I’ll go help Nat and Celeste with the costume work. Heaven only knows how often the two of them remember gadgets on them. And who’s to say they’re not fighting—as usual?”

“At least they get coordinated outfits, and good weapons.”

“That’s because it’s Nat and Celeste. I’ll see you, okay?”

“Yeah, see ya.”

With that, I take off for the storage room, hearing Elizabeth get up and head towards Vanessa’s office after a moment. Good. The two should DEFINITELY talk. For multiple reasons. We all knew how much the two cared for each other. They would be devastated if they lost each other, and it honestly worried me in the situation. We had all left and lost enough. I couldn’t imagine seeing us lose anything else.

We’d all lost a lot. Our families, whether they were dead or not, were gone. They thought we were dead, casualties in a war we shouldn’t fight. The Scar has connections in the forces meant to protect us and this nation, or even this world, from the likes of her. It seemed like nobody realized it. Adults I knew told us to keep her off our minds, because half her battle is scaring us. They promised the police or whatever was needed would handle her. They acted like she hadn’t already won. Like we weren’t living in these slums. Like this was happiness. But we knew at this point that this wasn’t what we once had. There wasn’t anyone fighting for happiness anymore. It was up to us, and that part, we all hated.


	5. Chapter 4 (Natasha)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Outfit planning is important, you know.

I didn’t hear Layla come in. Mostly because Celeste and I were in the middle of an argument over the clothes I wanted to use for this. Like, I get it, they weren’t perfectly practical, but dammit, we had to BLEND IN!

As I’m explaining this, we hear Layla clear her throat. We both look, and Celeste instantly straightens up, cringing slightly. “Oh, hey, Layla, didn’t hear you come in.”

She sighs a bit, shaking her head. “I can imagine. I’m here to help you both out here.”

“Good, so you’ll explain to her that we can probably make these dresses practical, but they’re the very best pieces to use,” I say.

Celeste counters with, “No, I’m pretty sure Layla’s here to explain that it’s easier to choose something else—“

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, girls,” Layla looks a bit amused. She pulls one hand out from behind her back, revealing a grape soda. “Celeste, I won’t tell her if you won’t. You get scary mad without it, and right now, that’s not what we need.”

Celeste goes to grab it from her, but Layla pulls it aside, then turns to me, smirking as she pulls out her other hand to reveal a Mountain Dew. “Peace, ladies?”

We both nod, and she hands them over. Vanessa hated this stuff. I thought she was crazy. As I set it on the counter beside me and Celeste started to chug hers, Layla looks at us. “Okay, now where are the dresses in question here?”

I nod to the three sitting out on the ‘to be used’ rack. “Left is yours, middle is Elizabeth’s, and right is mine.”

I watch Layla inspect them. Layla’s was this loose, flowy midnight blue one, with a conservative top part. This was Layla we were talking about. The skirt fell just below her knees, the end of which was loose-ish, doing nothing in the sense of her tiny legs. She blended in well, when necessary, being so short. It worked for her, obviously. Secondly, for Elizabeth, I went with this absolutely gorgeous white—Layla made a face the second she got that far. “Okay, no.”

“What?!” I snap.

Layla looks at me. “White symbolizes innocence, purity, and light. Literally everything Elizabeth is not playing. She’s trying to fricken’ seduce a guy, not marry him. You’ll have to rethink this one entirely. Besides, hello, this guy is, at least to me, pegged as the red wine type. If Elizabeth’s gonna play her part, this dress could be destroyed. And it’s such a pretty dress, and it would be so useful.”

I nod in agreement. “Okay, okay, that makes sense.”

“Besides, that’s too tight to hide anything in. Actually, so is hers,” Celeste points out, glancing at me, taking another swig of her soda.

Layla shoots her a look. “Remember who got you that soda, Celeste. Be nice.”

Celeste winces, nodding. Layla turns back to the dresses, getting to mine. It was long, hiding my legs. I was supposed to blend in, and in the crowd I was picturing for this, longer dresses worked, because this guy was a sleaze, and for the most part, nobody with long legs would want them accentuated in a situation like this. It was also a deep green, making me less interesting to look at in the crowd. My running theory has always been deep, dark greens and blues make you seem boring and disinteresting, while red makes you stand out. I adored red hoodies, but never wore them when running any sort of op. I can’t risk it.

Layla nods to that one. “Okay, that one works. So does mine.”

When Celeste starts to object, Layla looks at her. “Don’t worry, we can make this work, Celeste.”

Celeste nods, looking disgusted, and Layla turns back to me. “You go work on replacing Elizabeth’s dress. Celeste and I will go through weapons and gear.”

I nod, heading back towards the rest of the storage unit, with its racks and racks of different pieces. Vanessa being an ex-theatre kid meant we really had it all, in my department at least.

Ex-theatre kid. Heh. I remember how it used to be, and how we all used to be. We were normal, once. Before the Scar had attacked our school and a lot of our families—nothing personal, she never meant to turn anyone in particular against her, obviously. That would have been bad for a takeover.

But she had. She should have been a lot more careful. She targeted Vanessa’s neighborhood when Vanessa was at Addison’s house. The two had come back to find all of Vanessa’s local family—including her two baby nieces, brother, and sister-in-law—in the rubble, dead. That was Vanessa’s turning point, and it practically snapped Addison, too. But what really snapped Addison was when one of the Scar’s minions had robbed this big name store while her mother, her only real remaining family, had been shopping. Of the few who did make it out, Addison’s mother was not one of them.

Those were the only ones of other girls’ stories that I knew. A lot of us didn’t share why we’d snapped in the end. At least, not with the whole group. Personally, I was willing to go into this war without a tragedy happening. One did, though. Very few of us made it out of our school alive. It was all ablaze, and the fire alarms hadn’t worked. It was a message from the Scar herself, the police had said. We knew now it was to say there was no hope for the future, being that children and a higher level education symbolized hope. We’d lost that years ago.

I couldn’t believe that we made it—Elizabeth, Vanessa, Maddi, Layla, Celeste, Teresa, Jesse, and I. But we had, and it had set off Vanessa completely. Her breaking point had been passed, and now, she was pissed. And very serious about this mess. She really believed in all of us, now. She had this attitude that promised us all we could do it. Even when we were feeling the worst about all of this, even when we didn’t want to believe in it ourselves, Vanessa did. Like now. A good half of us didn’t really think we were going anywhere, honestly. We weren’t. If Vanessa and Teresa hadn’t hyped up our reputation more than it really deserved, we wouldn’t have even had the Scar contact us. But Vanessa believed, and for some of us, like Addison and Elizabeth, that was more than enough. Me, I wasn’t entirely sure about it. I wanted to, so I tried to, but I wasn’t entirely convinced.

I found myself in the fancy dresses section, looking through them. “Nope, nope, nope, too conservative, white, nope, nope, nope, when are we ever gonna use this, nope, nope—wait a second…”

I pulled it out, remembering my running rule as I looked it over. It wasn’t bright, in your face red, but it was red, and though long, it was definitely not conservative, with the split climbing high on the left side. We’d have to give it a new hem, and that’s counting the heels Elizabeth would wear, that, I was sure of. There was a little sort of flower looking bunch of fabric at the top of the split, and it was perfect. I smiled, heading back to the front with it. “Hey, Layla, check this one out.”

Layla turns, nearly dropping the earrings in her hands. “Oh. My. God.”

I nod in agreement as I hang it up, this time on the right, moving mine to the middle. “We’ll have to give it a new hem, even considering Elizabeth’s crazy heels, but…”

“It’s perfect,” Celeste cuts in, much to my surprise. “Though it makes it hard to work with the left leg, I can put a knife on her right leg. No guns, but a knife… sure.”

“Pair it with these…” Layla holds up the earrings in her hand. They were simple diamond circles, but I knew how they worked. They had an almost clear wire that was used to make an earpiece out of them, and they had a matching necklace that worked as a body camera, which Layla held up, “And this…”

“What about this?” Celeste asks her, and Layla turns, recognizing the ring, nodding with a smirk. It wasn’t really a ruby, but it looked it, and it also carried a single dose of a powerful sedative. Elizabeth loved this ring. She always wanted to use it, too bad sometimes there was no reason for her to have it.

I nod. “It’s perfect. But you know what Vanessa’s gonna say.”

We all look at each other, and at the same time, ask, “Is it enough,” in our best Vanessa impersonations. We all knew how she could be. I was trying to picture Vanessa’s face when she saw Elizabeth in it, though. I don’t think I had it quite right. I might be close to her, but even I can’t perfectly picture her reaction to seeing the girl she loved (whether she admitted it or not) dressed in this exact outfit.

Layla laughs. “She’ll be fine. Elizabeth will talk to her, I asked her to and she promised me she would. We know Vanessa will be fine if Elizabeth soothes her. Natasha, come help us with the other two.”

I join them in the buckets of gadgets we could use on this op. As we went through them, I wondered if Elizabeth could really calm Vanessa down. If anyone could do it, it would be Elizabeth, but could she do it? I had no idea. Vanessa wasn’t always the easiest to calm down. She had never been, but this whole business with the Scar had made it worse.


	6. Chapter 5 (Elizabeth)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Valizabeth with a dash of Valizabeth and also some Valizabeth.

I knocked on the door to Nessa’s office. After a moment, I heard a worried, “Come in,” and opened the door, seeing her, smiling. “Hey. Got a minute?”

I smile as she sits up, sounding brighter as she replies, “Always. What’s up?”

I step in, closing the door behind me and going to sit at her desk. Beautiful, stunning Nessa. At least, to me, though probably not to a lot of others. She was always in a bright mood, at least when I saw her. We had nothing left to smile for except for her. She always had time for me, too. “I know you’re worried, Nessa.”

She bites her lip, nodding. “Yeah, yeah, I guess I am. It’s just… we’ve never planned these in a day. I’m afraid some of this stuff will be sloppy, and something could wrong, and I could lose you.”

“Me?” I smile a bit as I lean over her desk.

Her face flushes, practically scarlet with embarrassment. “A-any of you! You guys are my friends, and this team wouldn’t be the same.”

“Nessa, we’ll be fine. You, of all people, know we can do this.” I suppress a smile. Even I know the effect I have on her. How could I miss it? I shouldn’t use it against her. It was practice, but it was harsh.

“Yeah, I know, Lizzie. We kick ass. But… I just… this guy isn’t one of the normal little useless minions. He’s not the biggest, but he’s one of those crucial guys who knows what’s going on. What if something goes wrong?”

I shake my head. “Nes, everything will be fine. I can handle myself great in there, and I’m getting the closest to him. The others are just my backup. As long as I don’t get nervous, I’ll be fine. And I’ll only get nervous if you are.”

Nessa looks at me, nodding after a moment, staring at me, her eyes shining with tears. I dry those, shaking my head. “Don’t be scared. We’ve done this before, we can do it now.”

She nods a bit, and I notice I’ve let my hand linger a bit on her face. I take it away slowly, kind of hesitant now, but getting up. I had work to do, which included looking into everything I could about this creep, Mark, or Milo, or something to that effect. Whatever, I only needed to know so much. “You gonna be okay?”

She straightens up, also seeming a bit awkward and hesitant after that. She kinda seemed like she hadn’t wanted me to take my hand away. “Yeah, totally. I’m sorry I’ve been so worried. I just…”

 _Picture your family? Get afraid that by being close to us, you could lose us?_ I wonder, but I don’t say anything about that. Forbidden territory. Even Addison’s not that stupid. The trauma was far too great for Nessa, obviously this wasn’t something you could just get over. Instead, I say, “Yeah, I get that. But you don’t have to worry.”

Nessa looks at me, seeming to expect… something. I don’t have a clue as to what, but she seemed like she was expecting something… specific. Whatever it was, she doesn’t get it. She doesn’t seem upset when whatever it was doesn’t happen, though, but instead, she nods, smiling a bit. “Yeah, I guess you’re right, Elizabeth.”

I nod, staring at her with a smile. God, but she was beautiful. Though she didn’t try, unlike me. Her shining brown eyes were a story all their own. Most people say any kind of glasses hide people’s eyes, but that wasn’t at all true with Nessa. If anything, her tiny, wire-framed glasses accentuated them, a perfect complement to her eyes and the rest of her face. She had an almost-invisible-at-times dusting of freckles, which were really prominent when she blushed, which may be why I noticed them. If anything, she looked like a bit of a dork at times, but don’t you dare call her that. If she doesn’t blow up first, I will, and it won’t be pretty. The only people allowed to tease her like that were those of us on the team, which we used this right very liberally. Be nice to… my… Nessa. Oh, God, I hope nobody else knows I call her that. She doesn’t even know, but it’s just like… yikes. I’m trying not to blush just thinking it.

She notices my stare, mostly because I think she might have been staring back, and suddenly clears her throat, looking away suddenly, as if she hadn’t been staring all along, looking back at her desk and everything on it, even glancing at the couch, which had a blanket and pillow on it. Nessa was staying the night here tonight, which wasn’t uncommon at all, so I wasn’t surprised. Just upset. She won’t get much rest. She’ll work herself into the ground. We all know that. Yet we never try and stop her. “Is, uh, is that all, then, Lizzie?” Nessa asks, breaking my train of thought.

I jump, blinking out of my daze. “Yeah, er, yeah, sorry, um… I’ll let you get back to work, Nes. I know how much work you put in for all of us and everything, and I’m probably just keeping you from it, right? Besides, I probably… no, I really… ought to read up more on that… guy. Whatever his name is, I don’t really remember, but I don’t really care, as per usual, huh? So… I’ll… uh, I’ll definitely be seeing you later, alright?”

“Later,” Nessa agrees, smiling at me, practically smirking, turning back to the pile of paperwork she’d been going through when I’d come in.

I sigh, nodding, giving her one last, long look before I head out and back to my desk. I notice that the muffled bickering sounds that had sounded very vaguely like they had been coming from the direction of the old storage room turned disguise collection holder were gone, and when I passed by the vending machine that was directly on my way back between my desk and Nessa’s office, I noticed it was down a grape soda and a Mountain Dew. While Jesse and Natasha both liked Mountain Dew, Celeste was the only person who drank grape soda, and if Celeste had been bribed… so had Natasha. _Layla,_ I think, amused, though I shake my head and roll my eyes a little bit. She probably… no, she definitely bribed the two of them for something, probably to get them to stop fighting. She was the type.

I wondered what they’d decided on in there. I shrug it off as I reach my desk, grabbing the files Maddi had left while I was out. Everything we and the Internet had on this guy. I was gonna need it. The dress was unimportant right now—er, don’t let Natasha and Celeste hear that. I know how they are. But you know, in comparison to the files I had to get through, the dress was very unimportant right now, honestly. Plus, I didn’t care as much. If it worked for what I was going to do, it was perfect.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can you imagine this entire chapter from Vanessa's perspective? Liiiiiiiiiike...


	7. Chapter 6 (Vanessa)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nessa is such a gay little protector.

So, all my panicking and all our planning aside, the next evening, the girls were changing into their dresses for their slip in. The rest of us were already in casual or kickass clothing, depending on what we were doing. Layla, Natasha, and Elizabeth were changing now. I hadn’t seen the dresses yet, but Celeste and Nat promised they were great.

Layla came out first, being cute and shy and kinda bouncy, smiling at me, and then spinning to show off the conservative but stylish blue dress. It was so… Layla. Cute and fun and conservative. It was absolutely perfect for a guest; it helped her blend in very well. She smiles at me, and I recognize the long, sharp-looking necklace and matching earrings. Actually tiny knives laced with a sedative. Easy out. Perfect.

Then, Natasha joined her with a little smirk. She looked nice in the green dress, which was full skirted enough to hide plenty of weapons in. And the black clutch? The gold “optional” strap could slice a man’s throat with minimal effort on the edge, but function as a perfectly useable strap on her shoulder. One of my personal favorites. Quick and easy.

It took Elizabeth a moment. But when she joined us, my jaw dropped in shock. She smiles a bit awkwardly at me.

She was show-stopping. A real knockout in red anyways, this red dress had a crazy split that only didn’t show anything because of the elaborate fabric flower bunch on it at the end of the split. Her crazy, killer red stilettos complemented the outfit, and her ruby red lipstick smile almost made me pass out. It certainly was enough that I didn’t notice anyone giggling at my stare. I find myself walking towards her, adjusting the body camera necklace and murmuring, “You look fan-freaking-tastic.”

She smiles, blushing a bit more than her own makeup covers. I smile, still staring at her, suddenly noticing how close we’d gotten, backing up suddenly before she leans any more than she already was, looking at Natasha, knowing I was probably blushing from embarrassment. “Uh, great job, Nat. They’re perfect.”

She snickers a bit, raising her eyebrow. “Yeah, I should hope so. We’ve gotta look convincing here.”

I nod slowly, smiling a bit at all of them. “Heh. Yeah.”

I then looked at Elizabeth, starting to get a little worried. “You remember the—“

“Yeah, I know my phrase, I promise I won’t pull some stupid shit, if I feel uncomfortable I will use the phrase, no exceptions,” she cuts in with a little smile. Maybe I do worry too much. I mean, I was always considered the “mom friend” before everything happened, but the fact that she knew what I was going to ask…

She smiles a bit, then pulls her hair back with a silver flower clip. I blink, realizing I’m staring and glancing away, feeling my face blush. Oh, God, this is ridiculous. This can’t be happening to me. We’re _professionals,_ for crying out loud! I’m not some giggling little ditz who might or might not have a thing for some person, I’m at the head of an all-girls vigilante team. I straighten up, forcing my expression to behave, then smile a bit. “Well, let’s go, huh, girls?”

Everyone snickers, except Elizabeth. I look at them all, and they all instantly look away, avoiding my gaze. Mm-hmm. I see how it is. I ignore them, rolling my eyes and taking off, knowing they’d all follow soon enough. At least, they’d better, if they knew what they were doing.

I hear the clicking of heels on the floor behind me, smiling, knowing Elizabeth was already behind me. As usual, the first to follow me. Then Addison was sprinting after me, then the others at their own paces. Always. We could never do one of those “cool team entrance” things with all of us walking in sync in a little V-shape, looking cool. We’d never stay in sync. We wouldn’t even start in sync. We’re just a bunch of kids in a world toppled by one woman.

On the way over, I fiddled awkwardly with my hands. This was risky. We weren’t highly trained, or, realistically, even highly skilled vigilantes or spies or whatever you wanted to call us. We were teenage girls. We were still kids. I couldn’t technically drive without an adult in the car yet, not legally. But I’d probably maneuvered us safely out of more car chases than the rest of them ever did. I tap my nails against my leg nervously, looking at the final chips of polish left from just before the fire. It had been long enough that if I ever actually did anything, there wouldn’t be anything left. But I don’t. I can’t fight, I don’t use weapons, so I just… type. And flip through files. I used to perform, I used to have a life (I guess… it’s what you make of it, right?), I had hopes for the future… hell, I used to smile.

Not so much anymore. Our very lives, the fate of our home and possibly the world, that’s all we had. And it wasn’t much. We stayed in places we could, mainly empty shell homes or a shelter, but never for long, and never with our own names. The office was the only thing we’d managed to get ourselves without taking it. You really don’t want to know what we’ve done to keep ourselves alive. It may never quite balance out for the cause. I wanted it to. I believed it could, but how could I be sure, realistically? We were living as criminals just as much as the Scar, just… without the power. Without the devastation and loss. Without the fear. We wanted to bring an end to what she did… but what were we doing to bring it about at all?

We had to try. We had to bring the world back to what we’d been raised in, until about five years ago now.

That was our goal. That’s what we were here for.

And I was scared. I wasn’t sure of myself, I never was. I didn’t have a lot of self-confidence growing up. This past year was the beginning of a lot of changes for me. And I’d sacrificed all of it for this. For a chance. A chance for children like my nieces, the girls I’d lost, to grow up happy. A moment, if only a brief one, where things would be okay. My hand automatically reached for the small heart-shaped locket around my neck. In it were pictures of my parents. It was my mother’s, and she’d given it to me for my sweet sixteen.

It wasn’t supposed to be mine anymore. The Scar took all precious jewelry when she took the world for herself. But it was mine. I’d always loved it as a child. I never took it off, now. It was my way of keeping their memory alive. That, and the flash drive in my office. The last shred of proof that life could be wonderful, even if only for a moment. And if we could do it, if we could bring that back… then so much the better, I think. Everyone deserves their chance. The Scar was taking that chance away from people and was spreading like a dark cloud through the world, and who knows when she would stop. It’s very doubtful she would. She was everywhere. Some people at home were afraid to speak with a friend in case that friend was working for her.

I couldn’t let this continue. For my family.

Anyways, after we pulled up, Natasha headed the group going in with a little smirk. Maddi, Celeste, and I were hooking up all our stuff, and I open a completely separate window from all the stuff I was supposed to be monitoring to directly monitor Elizabeth. No way in hell I was gonna leave her watched in an overall thing. I needed to be certain she was safe.

Er—that’s because of who this guy is. Obviously. Why else would I be making sure she—a valued member of our team, an old friend, just like the others were—was safe? Like, Natasha and Layla were in a huge group, it was easy for them to blend and be safe, but Elizabeth wasn’t always gonna be that safe. That was the only reason I made sure I was direct monitoring Elizabeth.

Celeste and Maddi notice, snickering with each other. I glance at them, annoyed. “What?!”

They jump, and Maddi plays it off quickly. “Nothing, nothing.”

“Hmm,” I grumble, pulling up the blueprints on my computer, setting up to find any and all escape routes for the girls just in case, then hooking up the girls’ tracking beacons so I know how to direct them, which was what I was supposed to be doing tonight anyways. I wasn’t distracted by Elizabeth, obviously. I mean, I was focused on my own work, not on her in particular, not really, anyways.

I mean, sure, she was on my mind, and I couldn’t help but think about how stunning she looked, especially in that red dress. Sure, I was really thinking about just how gorgeous she was, but it wasn’t like I was obsessing over her, or anything. She was just a naturally pretty girl, it’s not like you don’t notice it anyways. It was just rational to look at her and notice how gorgeous she really is and all, you know?

Oh, my gosh, I might be in love with one of my fellow agents.

No, no, no, this can’t be happening, this isn’t happening. I’m too careful for that to happen, getting attached like that can be dangerous, especially in this line of work with who we’re facing. This is… something else. This is just me caring about one of my best friends. She’s practically my sister.

Yeah, that’s it. That’s all it is, obviously. I’m just overreacting to how I thought I was feeling, which isn’t really how I’m feeling, of course it isn’t how I’m feeling. How ridiculous would it be if I actually had a thing for her? Way too ridiculous. I wasn’t… I wasn’t… I wasn’t.

I’m not.

Right?


	8. Chapter 7 (Celeste)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shit's going down. Finally.

If Vanessa doesn’t admit she has a thing for Elizabeth soon, I am going to scream.

I’m serious. I’m so over sitting here, watching Vanessa avoid the topic when she’s so obviously in love with her, and not saying anything because VANESSA HAS TO SEE THIS FOR HERSELF, DAMMIT!

I know Vanessa. She doesn’t stop talking anyways, but when it comes to Elizabeth, she never stopped talking about her. I think she liked her before this mess began, and if she’d realized it back then, maybe, just maybe, this wouldn’t be a problem now. When she realized she liked someone, she’d have people find out if the feelings were mutual. We’d be out of their whole dramatic mess if she’d noticed it just a bit sooner.

Then again, the same could be said for Elizabeth. She was equally as interested in Vanessa, and _she_ at least _acted_ it—well, at any rate, she certainly didn’t try and hide it. The number of times the two have practically kissed… well, it’s very high. And most of the time, it’s because Elizabeth creates the tension.

Vanessa was worriedly glancing between the stuff she was _supposed_ to be watching anyways and Elizabeth’s camera. Elizabeth wasn’t in any particular danger right now, as far as we could tell, he hadn’t even appeared yet. If that didn’t tell you anything about Vanessa, I don’t know what would.

Vanessa was watching her screen, and I could see how in love she was just by the way she’d glance over at Elizabeth’s camera view, especially when I noticed her plugging in her headset. She’s gonna talk to Elizabeth directly, as usual. She’s gonna be slipping into her own world and ignoring us all right about… now.

I was right. She was a lot less tense, but not completely calm, as she asks, “Liz? You there?”

Since Maddi’s the other person watching over everyone, I have no idea if there was a response, but Maddi rolls her eyes and looks at me. We both snicker a bit, and we turn to our own work. Vanessa could be who she was, and we knew she would do just that, remain herself and obsess over Elizabeth, and we’d get our work done. A typical day, actually. No matter what else.

See, Vanessa’s in charge, no questions asked, but that’s only because the two of us tend to work behind the scenes and don’t want to be put in the center of attention by everyone. That, and I highly doubt the two of us had the acting skills for us to play the group off as normal people. That was Vanessa’s territory, being that she was the ex-theatre girl, after all. If we had to be shoved to the front of the group to prove we were normal, I sincerely believe there’d be a point where we would crack. Mine was a much further point than Maddi’s, but it existed. Vanessa didn’t have that breaking point. She was great at staying in character, she and I had learned that much.

The only thing I wanted Vanessa to do differently besides stop obsessing so much with Elizabeth and get some work done was for her to actually say something to Elizabeth. Things would be _so_ much easier if the two would admit their feelings, already. I mean, if you watched them… you’d see just how in love the two were. Even if they didn’t see it, we did, and I found it to be annoying, but also quite… sweet, I guess. Endearing, maybe. Well, in a way, anyways, it certainly was.

Anyways, back to the matter at hand. I was in charge of monitoring the overall situation and, if things got bad, signaling group two to move in to help the others. So far, everything seemed fine. Maddi was calmly giving the girls different instructions as they moved through the crowd. Everything stopped when I noticed Vanessa gripping her computer mouse, and Maddi looked at me. “It’s go time.”

The guy had not only appeared, but was quickly making his way towards the hot girl in red. I sat up, watching Maddi’s screen. Vanessa hisses in worry, “Be careful, Elizabeth.”

That’s how you know things are serious. Vanessa almost always calls Elizabeth either Liz or Lizzie. That’s like you know Elizabeth’s being serious when she calls Vanessa by her full name, instead of Nes or Nessa. And don’t even THINK about using their nicknames for each other yourself. You’ll have the other one on you so fast, you’d see stars. The two are so protective and cute. Too bad they’re both too stupid to see it themselves.

I know I shouldn’t say that. Vanessa was clever, and highly intelligent. This wasn’t something she did often, but she made it her field of expertise. In a matter of months, we had been able to disappear completely. I never asked her how she got the money or, well, anything, to pull this off. But three months after the school burning, we were declared dead, and the police assumed we’d been far too close to the fire’s origin to have any remains.

I’d never seen Vanessa more upset around any of us than the day we all found out. I understood why she’d done this. It was a way to protect us, give us some anonymity, and all the while without bringing risk to ourselves or our families. Whatever any of us had left.

I didn’t have anything left but her. That’s why Vanessa hadn’t looked at me when she broke the news. She knew I’d lost as much as she had. We had to stop the Scar before she got any further. It was all we had left at this point. Besides each other. And sometimes, I’m not so sure Vanessa believed in that.

Suddenly, Maddi gasps, interrupting my train of thought. I had no idea how long I’d been mulling everything over, but it felt like hours. “Guys, they’re locking down all the exits. He knows we’re here.”

“He WHAT?!” I snap, glancing at her camera views. Sure enough, bars were slowly and silently closing over doors and windows. Son of a—

I sharply start to snap orders over the headphones. “EVERYONE OUT! That includes you, Elizabeth! Team two, move in if necessary! Help get them out!”

I watch the cameras as our girls move in to get to each other. Jesse was the first of team two to make it in, and two guards came to shove her back out. What they weren’t expecting was Jesse’s sword. She unsheathed it from where she kept it hidden, striking out. I cringe, glancing away from the screen. That looked painful. When I next see her, moving into a new camera’s view, she has this twisted smirk on her face that was the closest thing to happy I’d ever seen her be in my life.

Jesse wasn’t quite like the rest of us. She was something else. Somehow, in the camera transition, she’d lost her sword, probably stuck IN one of her former attackers or something. I can already see her cleaning that thing in the weapons room. She’s very meticulous about it. When she bothers to clean it. Which is when Vanessa tells her to. Which is when Vanessa sees how bad it gets. Which is almost never.

 Jesse keeps a low profile in the office. You don’t find Jesse, Jesse finds you. It’s simultaneously cool and terrifying. I mean, Jesse could be a master spy if she wanted to, which is good for us. She had the talent, the ability to blend, and the fighting skills to go with all of it. As I thought about that, she delivers a kick to a man’s rib cage. While I can’t hear anything, from the way it crumples, I can almost completely assume she cracked it. She glances back at the camera with the same smirk, waving slightly at us. Or maybe to the feed, which we all figured live fed straight to the Scar. Luckily for us, my link had it coming straight to us, too.

Suddenly, both Maddi and Vanessa freeze, and I see the color draining from Vanessa’s face. _Oh, no._

Maddi looks at her. “No, we can’t risk it. Most of the others are already out, you know—“

Vanessa stands up, ignoring Maddi entirely, her earbuds ripping out of her ears as she grabs… _What the hell, did **Vanessa** just grab a gun?!_

Yeah, I said she had strength. I believe that, I really do. But weapons? No. That wasn’t anything like even the new Vanessa. That was… terrifying. And I spin guns because I feel like it.

Maddi stands as well. “Vanessa, don’t do this. We can get her out—“

“NO. What if they kill her before we get the chance? I’m not taking that chance. If something goes wrong, Addi’s in charge. I’m going for her. She needs me in there.” Vanessa swallows hard, looking away, but I happened to realize she’s blinking back tears.

 _Are you sure it’s not you that needs her?_ I wonder, but don’t say anything. Instead, I watch as she heads out of the van, straight towards the mansion entrance the extraction team had used, clearly refusing to have second thoughts—I actually sort of wonder if she’s having any at all. I doubt it, honestly. Vanessa… she was like that, never thinking twice about stuff. I mean, if she was that type, we wouldn’t be here. There were so many things that were different about Vanessa that I could only understand how they applied to us now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh yeah, Ellie's become Celeste to cut down on confusion with Ellie/Elizabeth. And I used Jesse! Aren't you all so proud? (Shoutout to "Phantom")


	9. Chapter 8-- Elizabeth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO ACTION (WHICH I CAN'T WRITE FOR SHIT)

I trembled, backing away slightly, tripping back onto the couch. “I… I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

He glares at me. “Oh, cut the crap, cupcake, I know who you are, and I know what you’re doing. And sorry to tell you, but you’re not leaving this room.”

“Please. I don’t know what you’re talking about. Please just let me go. I won’t try and do anything about this. I just want to go home.”

He knew. He knew I was one of those set against him, he somehow knew that I was there to squeeze information out of him. I hadn’t gotten anything out of him. I knew that. Whatever he’d told me… it was all lies. We were doomed. I was scared out of my mind, who wouldn’t be? I was going to die here. There was no way they’d risk losing more to get in here, past the armed guards and the man himself. I was on one of the upper stories of the place, not that I knew where. I was trapped, his prisoner until he or his boss decided what should happen to me. This was how I would go out. And I’d never get to see Nessa again.

Then, a knock at the door echoes through the suddenly silent room. It wasn’t a dull, unamused thud. It was rushed, almost seeming… scared. Like the messenger had life or death news. Whatever it was, I didn’t want to know. But I didn’t have a choice. He looks up from his desk at the sound, clearly annoyed as he sets the gun he’d been pulling from a drawer back on the desk top. He glares at me warningly as he manages to growl out, “You keep up your little innocent girl act. You tip them off, and you’re both dead. You got it?”

I nod quickly, and he goes to get the door. Before he can even speak, I hear a gun fire. It was a noise I never could get used to. It was like witnessing the death of someone without ever having to look. You could almost see the executioner completing the victim’s sentence.

For once, I didn’t mind the sound. It meant I was safe.  It meant someone had been stupid enough to come after me. I hope. What do I know? It could be someone on his side coming to collect me and angry about how he’d handled the situation.

When I dare to look over, he’s already crumpled after being shot in the head at point-blank range. The blood rolls down his head, creating a red circlet crown across his forehead. Nessa stands at the door, looking in at me worriedly, holding the smoking gun, shaking slightly. She looks at me, and I can instantly see her relief to see me stand up, walking to join her, looking up at her slightly. She lowers the gun, one hand gently coming up to my shoulder, lightly gripping it, as if reassuring herself. “Elizabeth? Are you okay, did he hurt you?”

I stare at her. _Did NESSA, of all people, just shoot a guy in the head?_ Last I’d checked, Nessa barely knew how to USE a gun. And she’d done it for me. That was… kind of sweet, actually. Terrifying. But sweet. “Y-yeah. But why did you come back for me? We both know it wasn’t safe.”

I looked up at her, not noticing how close I’d gotten to her for quite a bit, completely unaware, caught in the moment. It’s not until she lets out a hot breath that I feel wash over me that I realized how close we were to each other as she answers, “Because you’re a part of this team and I won’t leave you behind with a creep like him. Let’s go.”

She looked… incredible. Hair pulled back in an easy ponytail, something once deemed impossible due to her once-long, thick hair, blue jeans, her favorite black combat boots, and a white tank top with an unbuttoned black button-up shirt tied at her stomach. A pretty casual look, but cute on her. A look to her face that said… something. Something different than her usual protective look. Something… softer.

I reach up, gently brushing aside a small lock of her hair. She’d cut it off to her shoulders once we’d started this whole business. She maintained it that way, too. It was so heartbreaking to me. I’d known her for years. She hated short hair on herself. She kept it long and loose, carefree like she herself once was. Things were different now, and her hair was just part of the change I saw in her. It hurt me to think of how much she’d changed, how much she’d lost. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d seen her full, beautiful smile. The new normal for Nessa was maybe a sort of grin, if anything. She was hurting, and she wouldn’t let anyone get close enough to know just how much, not even Celeste or Addison, not anymore. I knew they were close to her once. They made the mistake of thinking they still were. As much as I wanted to respect that, I want her to know that I care about her.

She looks at me, the closest thing I’d seen to a smile on her face. “Ready to go?”

I look at her, nodding. God, did I want to kiss her. I know I’m more than practicing when I flirt with her. She was just so great, the fact that she’d risked serious shit to save me, of all people, and knowing that she cared. Even I saw through what she was saying sometimes. But Nessa was too uptight, too focused on our goal as a team for that. I wished it had never happened, I wished we could be normal. Maybe we’d have a chance.

But I didn’t get to think about that. It hurts to think that way, knowing I can’t have it. So I don’t. Instead, I follow her out, not speaking to her, just staring sadly at the one thing I wanted but couldn’t have.

Celeste throws her hands in the air as we both climb in. “Vanessa, have you LOST your freaking MIND?! You could have DIED, both of you! You don’t even know how to use a gun!”

“Celeste, the guy’s dead now,” I snap, not wanting to put up with hearing this. Nessa had just saved my damn life. She didn’t deserve Celeste being pissed at her for it, that’s for sure.

“He’s what?!” Maddi looks back at me. Of course she does. I wouldn’t believe it either. We were too “professional” to leave someone dead like that. We were also clever enough to not get caught. But that didn’t mean we killed anyone we came across. It was if it was necessary, sure. This was a necessary moment. “We lost connection with the necklace and earrings in our scramble to get everyone we could out. What do you mean, he’s DEAD?!”

“Just that. He was gonna hurt her, I don’t care what kind of asset he could be alive, I killed him, plain and simple.” Nessa looks at the other two, who look between each other in shock, then barely manage to shrug, and Maddi drives us off.

Maddi smiles a bit, clearly preparing to mock someone. I had a feeling I knew who. “So, I managed to get access to his computer with ease, unlike some people…” She looks at Celeste before continuing. “And we should know more in a few days.”

Celeste glares at her, and I snicker a bit. I loved watching the two bicker over computer stuff. Both were pretty good, it was the fight over who was better that I loved. Their little digs at each other were so common in the office I was just used to them, I guess. It was more of a joke, a light-hearted banter that was meant to keep the rest of us in high spirits, I think. But if it was working was anyone’s guess.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I begged my friend (who based the character Celeste) to help me with this chapter, but that didn't happen. Sorry for the late update, I don't write action very well. "Phantom" (basis of Jesse) is gonna rewrite my action scenes I hope, don't worry!


	10. Chapter 9 (Addison)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We needed to hear from Addison. She's Vanessa's best friend, after all!

I mean, I’ve known her my whole life. Literally my entire life, actually. We knew everything about each other.

But sometimes, I can be extremely surprised by how _incredibly stupid_ Vanessa can be. According to what I was hearing around the building, she hadn’t just gone in to rescue Elizabeth in the middle of an evacuation, but she’d grabbed a damn gun. She didn’t know how to use… weapons! She wasn’t weapons specialist for a REASON, people! I distinctly remember Celeste’s inability to teach her simply because she couldn’t learn. She didn’t want to. She was an activist for peace, despite the way we had to live. I sincerely hoped the rumors were all just jokes being passed around, but Elizabeth disproved that.

“So, Vanessa with a gun? Can you girls get any more wrong?”

“Actually, she did what the rumors say. Came in, shot the guy in the head, and we left. Simple as that.”

The way Elizabeth reacted to telling the story, sort of stand-offish and cold, like she was holding out on it, told me there was a bit more to the story, at least, on her end of things, but I didn’t push the issue. The last thing I needed was the girl my best friend loved more than life itself to hate me. That would just be awkward.

Brushing all that aside, I had to talk to Lindsey. I had thought about the whole incident and I’d realized something was very, very wrong about the whole thing. I needed to talk to her and get some ideas about it.

When I finally found her (buried in piles of research), I approached carefully but quickly. “Maddi? Can we talk?”

She looks up, smiling. “Hey, Addison. Sure, go ahead, talk.”

“It’s about the other night, with what happened and the lockdown. He knew we were there.”

Her easy smile slips. “Yeah, I know, he did. We probably have a mole.”

I was afraid of that. “Who?”

“I don’t know. We need to keep this between us right now. I don’t know who we can trust. I’m gonna talk to Vanessa but that’s it. I don’t trust anyone else with this. And I don’t know what Vanessa’s gonna say. She hand-picked us all, Addison, what’s she gonna do when she finds out one of those hand-picked good friends of hers turns out to be a spy?”

I shrugged, worried. “I have no idea.”

Maddi sighs. “Exactly, Addison. None of us know, and that’s what makes this whole thing so troubling. We literally have no plan for this, Vanessa would never have expected one of us to turn against the rest. She trusts us and the realization that one of use is against the team would kill her.”

I nod in agreement, sighing. “Any theories?”

“I’m not sure. I hope I’m wrong, but I think it’s someone really close to her. Not you, obviously.”

“…you don’t really think it’s Elizabeth, do you?”

“I don’t know what to think, Addison.”

I nod, sighing. Poor Vanessa. I wonder if the idea that we had a mole had even crossed her mind. It probably hadn’t, she trusted us way too much. She was just that kind of girl.

She always had been. She had this “trust her gut” instinct that she followed without fail. It was how she stayed close with Celeste. The two had a major fight way before we got into all of this, and Celeste had given up on their friendship entirely. But Vanessa, after that, had basically gone, “oh, fuck that noise,” and told Celeste that she wouldn’t let her go because she thought their friendship was worth it. The two were still close and these days almost rarely had a big fight that escalated towards things like not speaking to each other.

I remembered that day. Vanessa had wanted to call but we both didn’t want me to have to hear her bawling her eyes out on the phone, so we’d just texted each other. She’d said that she felt like she would start crying when she saw Celeste the next day in school, and I’d told her that at least Celeste would see how much she regretted it.

That was another person to consider, now that I thought about it. Close to Vanessa, but not me, left Elizabeth and Celeste. I was formulating my own list of possibilities. With a wave to Maddi, I headed out towards my desk, grabbing a sticky note and a pen as I sat down.

 _Elizabeth,_ I wrote, followed by _Celeste, Layla_ , _Natasha_ , _Maddi, Teresa, Jesse._

I looked it over, thinking it over a bit. It didn’t have to be someone extremely close to Vanessa… that was just the worst case scenario. I crossed out Elizabeth, Celeste, Layla, Maddi, and Natasha. They were just too close to her to turn on her. I’d been around Vanessa long enough to know who to trust her with, and those four, I trusted.

That left Teresa and Jesse as my top two suspects. Teresa was our contact in the dark world, after all, (which made her very suspicious in my opinion) and Jesse was… Jesse. Brooding, dark, kind of just… there. And scary, too. She and Vanessa had been good friends before everything happened to us, which didn’t make sense. The two were nothing alike. But hey, there they were.

I honestly couldn’t tell which one it might be. I was leaning against Teresa, thought it made me sick, considering her relationship with Maddi. Jesse was on-site, she couldn’t get away and get information to the enemy that easily. Not that I trusted her though. She was still suspicious. Not to mention weird and creepy. I never figured out why they two were close. Jesse was cold, quiet… just… there. But I just had a higher distrust of Teresa.

I decided to not report this idea to anyone, not even Vanessa. I didn’t know who to trust, and Vanessa had enough headaches to worry about without all of this going on. So, I kept it to myself, crumpling up the sticky note and tossing it into the trashcan underneath my desk. If I had to explain it… well, I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it. No sense worrying about it right now when there’s no proof it’ll actually happen, am I right?

Elizabeth walks over to my desk. “Hey, Addison, got a minute?”

I smile at her. “Sure. What’s up?”

“I’m sorry about earlier. I didn’t mean to snap at you. I was frustrated by… something else, and I let my anger control me for a minute. I’m so sorry it did, because I don’t want you to not like me or something.”

I smile a bit. “It’s no trouble, Elizabeth. I know how that feels. Was there anything else you wanted?”

“Um… well…”

I grin a bit. “Go on, Elizabeth, I won’t tell a soul and I don’t judge. Sit down!”

She pulls up a chair, laughing a bit. “See, it’s a little silly. Just a sort of thought I’ve had lately. Something on my mind that probably shouldn’t be on my mind because we’re supposed to be serious about the mission around here and I know that, I believe in our goals and our freedom from the Scar as much as Vanessa…”

I shake my head. “Elizabeth. We need to not be so serious all the time. Please. Talk.”

She blushes. “See, it’s _about_ Vanessa…”

 _Oh, my god, is she gonna say what I think she’s gonna say?_ I wonder, but all I say is, “Go on…”

“I… oh, this is gonna sound stupid… I think that I… I think I like her. A lot. Like, romantically.”

 _FINALLY!_ I resist the urge to punch a victory fist into the air. “Oh, really?”

“Yeah, yeah, I know… it’s ridiculous, I need to be professional about it…”

“Shut up! This is so cute, Elizabeth! You should tell her about it—“

“Oh, god, no, Addison, are you NUTS?! I can’t risk sacrificing our friendship over it. Right now, she and I both need each other as friends more than anything else. She can’t handle having to deal with the Scar crisis and me having these puppy feelings for her. Besides, we all know Vanessa doesn’t want to risk opening her heart like that. You of all people should know how much she’s changed.”

I look at her. _Oh, dammit._

“Besides, it’s probably gonna blow over. I highly doubt I’m truly into her, this is just a passing thing. And if it isn’t… well… it just has to be. Because I can’t let myself think about what could be. I can’t start imagining all of the possibilities and the ‘what-ifs’. It hurts like hell. It’s too much to bear.”

I nod slowly, sighing, rubbing her shoulder awkwardly. “It’ll get better, Elizabeth. I’m sure it will.”

“Yeah, I hope you’re right.”

I nod, and she sighs. “I’d better get back to work. You, too, from the sounds of things. Seems you have something on your mind that would be worth looking in to. That much I know after all the time I’ve spent with you.”

I sigh, nodding a bit. Of course, Elizabeth payed attention to my quirks. I was her dream girl’s best friend. She pays attention to everyone, sure, but if you had to pick, she’d focus on me and Celeste. We were her best friends, besides Elizabeth herself of course. We had been for quite some time. Me longer than Celeste, but all the same.

Celeste… Celeste was weird. She’d only known Vanessa about three or four years now. I’d known her for more than ten years. But sometimes, at her worst, even I can’t comfort or help Vanessa. There was nothing I could do, despite all of our time together. She’d even keep me out of her office. But Celeste… Celeste was different. Celeste, she’d open the door for. Those two understood each other on a level I wasn’t at, and it sucked. Why was Celeste like that when I was still on the outside? When would I get that close to her? She was the only person I trusted even BEFORE the Scar took over. I don’t know what it is. They don’t talk to me about it, either. They try to act like it’s not like that.

Elizabeth heads back to her desk, and I turn back to my computer, focusing on my original task to keep myself from overthinking this any further. Surely there was something I could do to follow up on my theory about our double agent. I could monitor Jesse’s computer, Celeste and Lindsey had taught us how to do that. But I couldn’t check on Teresa, not with her being deep in cover. We needed her in, anyways. The Scar knew where we were, we knew that now, it wasn’t safe to have her on the loose if she wasn’t our double.

It was really safer to have her in if she was our double agent, if you asked me. She’d be closer to us and it would be harder for her to communicate with whoever she was working with. The more I thought about it, it would be perfectly reasonable for me to want her to come back. I was just a concerned teammate, not like I found her suspicious in the slightest. I trusted her, at least, as far as Vanessa knew. I trusted all of them, in her eyes.

Now, I had to talk to Vanessa. None of this would matter if she didn’t agree. But I know Vanessa. She’ll pull someone back in out of her love for them. We’re the only family she has. She cares about us, even if she doesn’t show it the way she used to. She would never abandon us and leave us for dead. Even if she isn’t who she used to be. So I know she’ll pull Teresa in from her part of our mission.

But whether this was bringing the enemy closer to home for our protection or our doom, I had no idea. I just had to hope it wasn’t Teresa. I mean, for all we know, the place could be literally bugged, and no double agent existed. But I had this feeling that I couldn’t shake, and it was telling me that I couldn’t trust anybody. Not right now.

I went to Vanessa’s office, not bothering to knock as I barged in. She looks up, laughing a bit. “Bitch.”

“Hoe,” I reply automatically, then switch into my more business-like manner. “Vanessa, I don’t think Teresa should be out anymore. It’s not safe. The Scar clearly knows who we are, all of us, not just you, and she tried to catch us. We know that. It’s too risky to leave Teresa active. She needs to come in, for her safety.”

Vanessa looks at me, nodding. “I know. I was going to set up the email right now, actually. It’s for her own good. I’m just not sure how well she’s gonna transfer from all that energy and danger into this environment. She’s been out for a long time, you know. She’s almost too used to being out there. What’s she gonna do when she comes back?”

“Adjust. It’s all she can do. We’re keeping her safe and I know she’ll appreciate it. She’s our friend.”

Vanessa nods, smiling a bit. “I’m glad you understand. Will you help her adjust back? I know you’re really used to being in here, so I figured…”

I smile, shaking my head. “Sure, fine, no trouble. I don’t like your implication about me being in here all the time. You’re worse than I am. You SLEEP here sometimes.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know. Sue me.”

I laugh a bit, getting up, ruffling her hair. “Take care of yourself, Vanessa. We all fall apart if you do.”

She sighs. “But no pressure, right?”

I chuckle. “Just take care, okay? I need you here. You’re my best friend.”

“And you’re mine. No matter what else. I understand, Addi. Thanks.”

“Yeah.”

With that, I head out the door, and back towards my desk. Time for step 2: check out Teresa and see if she’s really trustworthy. You never know, am I right?


	11. Chapter 10 (Layla)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I've decided that with rare exceptions (See: Natasha in Chp 4), I'm gonna make these chapters mainly from the perspectives of Vanessa, Elizabeth, Layla, Celeste, and Addison. They're the characters I'm the most in touch with.

I mean, I do really like Vanessa. I tolerate Celeste for her and everything, I trust her with all of this. Even if this stuff puts me and what’s left of my life at risk, it’s worth it knowing what we’ll achieve for the world in the end.

But why the hell were Celeste and I put in charge of welcoming Teresa at the door together?

I mean, like I said, I tolerate her for Vanessa’s sake. But I figured Vanessa wouldn’t put us together on projects because she knows we don’t like each other. I know she doesn’t like that we don’t get along, because she sometimes gets stuck choosing between us when we argue and I know she hates that. We don’t like to get her involved because we both care about her, no matter what it seems like to either of us.

She and I wait at the door in silence for a long time. Finally, she says to me, “I don’t get why we agree to do this.”

“We both care about Vanessa, Celeste. We may hate each other, but we care about her. And she’s what matters. You understand her better than anyone else in the world. She loves you to death. You two need each other in a way I can’t truly explain. You keep her here. You keep her fighting. And she reminds you why you’re here. In general. You two have always been like that for each other. You kept her grounded, we both know that. And she is unconditionally there do you. She loves you. Not like she loves Elizabeth, no. But in her way. You need someone like that.”

“And what about you?” Her voice is quiet. A little shaken.

“I trust Vanessa. That’s why I took that oath. ‘On my life, to the end.’ I did that for Vanessa, for what was right, so my family no longer lives in fear. And while I may see you as nothing more than a heartless bitch who can’t even see past herself long enough to truly look, I know there’s a part of you that did this for the same reason I did. That’s your weakness, Celeste. At the end of the day, you care. You pretend and maybe you think you don’t care about anyone anymore, and everyone else probably sees that about you. But the truth is, you can’t stand the thought of losing anyone else, especially someone like Vanessa. Everyone thinks you don’t care, that you will never care, because that’s not the kind of person you are. But you do, more than you yourself want to admit.”

She looks at me, in shock. I don’t think she expected me to say that. I don’t think _I_ expected me to say that. It was the truth, I know that was the truth, but that wasn’t my thing. My deal was that I didn’t care about her, I didn’t speak to her unless necessary, and I sure as hell didn’t try to understand her. But somehow, I had understood her.

Finally, she nods. “Thanks, Layla. That… that actually really helped.”

I nod. Jesse suddenly puts a hand on my shoulder and Celeste’s. “Hate to break up this lovely party, ladies…”

I yelp, turning on my heel to face her. “How do you DO that?! Jesse, you gave me a heart attack!”

She smirks, shrugging. “Doesn’t matter, I guess. Vanessa sent me to check and see if Teresa was here yet.”

“Not a sign of her,” Celeste replies with a shrug.

Jesse nods. “So, nothing yet, nothing you’ve seen at all that suggests she’ll be here, like, soon?”

“None,” I say, confused, but shrug it off. Jesse might be anxious to get back to work.

She nods to us. “Thanks.” She takes off towards the rest of the office, where we’d set up a cute little welcome back party for Teresa. Vanessa had wanted her to feel like she still belonged with the rest of us. We all knew how hard this would be on Teresa.

She was coming out of a world where she was constantly having to watch her back, jumping at every little thing, never trusting anyone having to be ready for anything when it comes to fighting, and hoping her identity held. In its place, she was going to a world where we all took care of each other, where she was safe and not at risk like she was out there. It was gonna be a hard transition on her, and we knew it would be, but we had to hope that she’d be okay. The poor thing. I wouldn’t be able to adjust, I don’t think.

That’s when the door started to crack open. I jumped, smiling as Teresa stepped in slowly, looking at us. “Welcome back, Teresa!”

Celeste smiles a bit, much to my surprise. She wasn’t very “happy” BEFORE everything happened. Teresa smiles back. “Good to be back, Layla. But what are you guys doing here?”

“Follow us and find out,” Celeste replies, taking off. I start laughing as I lead Teresa after her, back to the main meeting room.

Vanessa’s eyes light up as we walk in. “Teresa!” She runs over, hugging her tightly. “Welcome back!”

Teresa hugs her back, looking around in shock. “Wait, what’s this?”

“A welcome back party.” Vanessa bites her lip shyly. “I hope you like it… I know it’s not much, with how the world is and everything, but—“

Teresa hugs her again, tearing up. “Thanks, Vanessa.”

Vanessa nods, smiling softly at her. “Of course, Teresa.”

Teresa looked around at us. It had been a long while since we’d seen her. I don’t know how Maddi put up with it, actually. Then, Teresa let go of Vanessa, and Vanessa barely got out of the way before Maddi was on her, hugging her tightly. Oh, I get it, she DIDN’T put up with it, not fully. Of course not.

Vanessa makes a face, laughing a bit. She hadn’t originally approved of them joking about dating before their relationship had begun. She’d always laughed them off and denied them. Then, when they became an actual thing, she’d given up, but she often joked about that time all the same. She was happy for them. I think she felt like they were a ray of hope for all of us. A shred of proof that happiness always persists.

Teresa was blushing fiercely. Teresa gets so embarrassed. It’s adorable. She hugs Maddi back, holding onto her, relaxing. “I’m back,” she mumbles gently into her arms. “I’m back.”

Maddi nods silently, holding onto her, tears in her eyes. Those two were close. Sometimes, I forgot that myself. Then again, it had been so long since I’d even seen Teresa. I hoped Maddi could help Teresa adjust to being back. Actually, I know she can. And she will. That’s if she can get herself back into the swing of things without being distracted by Teresa. But I’m sure she can. Maddi’s better than Vanessa and Elizabeth. Well… okay, _slightly_ better. Not much.

I look around. Jesse was leaned against the wall, not sure when she got there. Maybe she was always there. Vanessa stands to the side, watching Maddi and Teresa reunite. She seems… relieved. Seeing her team in one piece probably helped her feel a little more relaxed.

Natasha seems to think nobody notices her hiding the snacks we’d managed to get for this party in her jacket. She sees my look and starts putting things away, but I know she’ll go back to it. Oh well. She wasn’t serious, she just did it for the laughs. I knew that.

Elizabeth was watching Maddi and Teresa. As I started to look past her, I noticed her gaze change over to Vanessa. Of course it did. Why should I be surprised? I’ve always believed Elizabeth is more upfront with herself about her emotions than Vanessa is.

Celeste seems bored. But that was Celeste for you. She was usually in an almost “neutral” state at all times. I mean, until I fully explained it to her, before what happened to her, I couldn’t understand how Vanessa put up with her. I’m not sure Vanessa knew, either.

Addison’s gaze is locked on Teresa. I wasn’t sure why. It was harsh, and cold. Very calculating, judging. What was going on with her? She looked like she’d rather face the Scar right now. I’d have to ask her about it later. Right now, watching Maddi slowly relax, gently letting Teresa go, I couldn’t help but smile, and let myself get caught in the moment.


	12. Chapter 11 (Vanessa)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> SURPRISE, MOFOS

It wasn’t lost on me that Addison was acting really weird. Ever since the last mission, I’d noticed that something had been a little off with her. It had only gotten worse once Teresa came back. For some reason, Addi didn’t seem to trust her. I mean, sure, it had been a long time since we’d seen her, but this was ridiculous. Teresa was still a part of our team and I trusted her. I trusted all of my girls.

Speaking of, I looked back at the list on my computer, I should decide that. I pick at my nails.

For months now, we’d been known as a team of girls fighting against the greatest darkness in their world. Somehow, it didn’t roll off the tongue easily. So, I’d been trying to find a way to shorten us so we’d have a sort of team name for the world to know us by, at least, the dark world, and when the time came, the rest of them, too. We weren’t just some team of girls. We were… we were…

Team felt less unified than what we were. Teams were temporary, whether they were sports, job world, government positions, school groups, it didn’t matter. There was no true permanence associated with the word team.

Group felt small. Groups were always associated with music, or small collection of usually no more than 5 people in my mind. We weren’t small. We were strong, powerful, and more numerous than most groups.

Organization felt too powerful. Too much like we were trying to take over after her. We didn’t want that. We just wanted her and her power gone. Organization was typically associated with great power.

Order. I thought about that. We were a small, but not so small, collection of girls with a common goal and a high level of strength. We were gaining in power, and we were prepared to fight for what we believed was right. Yes, I decided, we were probably best suited as an order.

But an order of… what? Most “orders” mentioned were named for something simple, something that symbolized what they believed in, what they followed, or what they were. We were an order of… peace? An order of balance? No, those were just… ridiculous to hear. I couldn’t seriously say those out loud.

Order of the righteous? No. Order of the fight? That didn’t sound right. Order of… order of…

Someone knocked at my office door, startling me from my thoughts. I looked up. “Come in.”

I minimized the list, looking instead at a recent email from Maddi, skimming it. Something I’d definitely need to read more in-depth later, some update on the guy we’d tried to attack.

Addison looks down when she walks in. Her voice is quiet, almost raspy, like she’d been crying. “Hey, Van. I just wanted to come say hi, and give you this.”

She hands me a file, and I look at her, curious. She sighs. “The other girls don’t know about this. I don’t want to have them hurt over this. It doesn’t apply to them as much.”

I nod, opening it slowly. A picture of my 8 month old niece, the younger of the two, falls out. My eyes widen. “Wait, what’s this? Why is this here?!”

Addison winces. “It gets worse.”

I nod, leafing through, not really hearing her as words jumped out at me. I noticed there weren’t pictures to go along with each record. _Headstrong child… put in place… make vulnerable._

Wait. I read over it again, reading the whole sentence this time.

_The older child in this family, a teenager, is a headstrong child, but she is soft. Our confidant believes that she may rebel against me if we’re not careful. I’m also told she’s attached to her family, and if we can harm them, we can get a message across. But I believe their death will put her in her place and make her vulnerable. I know her moves. I’ll strike when she isn’t around. She is the target._

That sounds like… no… it couldn’t be. Could it?

I flipped to the next page. _A friend of the target, she’s very close to her and probably likely to follow her headstrong friend’s lead in a rebellion. Our confidant does not know much about her, says they don’t know each other except through the main target. It stands potential for a weakness, she doesn’t seem to have much of a connection with the others besides the target. She is low-risk for now. If worst comes to worst, I can always send her a message. She only has one real close remaining family member. The loose end._

But that makes this…

I jumped a couple of pages. _Our confidant says the target is closer to her than she is to the loose end. Useful._

I flipped the page. _Our confidant informs me she protects the target like an older sibling would. Records show she’s younger than the target._

I skimmed the rest of it. _Our confidant, confidant, informs me, confidant, trust, the two…_

“Oh, god…” The folder falls to my desk, and it closes, letting me see the front. _Low level threat but with potential to become high level. Fix that._

Addison nods, sitting at the chair on the other side of my desk. I stared at the file, then at her, horrified. “Where did you find this?”

“You’re not gonna like this, Vanessa…”

“I DON’T CARE!” I snap. “It’s clear we have a double. Tell me where you found this. NOW.”

She nods. “Teresa’s things. I was helping her unpack into her cubicle and found it. I wouldn’t have thought anything of it but I realized it was something we hadn’t seen before. After I skimmed it, I knew I had to bring it to you.”

I nod, looking at it, tears in my eyes as I open it again, finding more pictures that are paper-clipped together, not loose like the picture of my baby niece. I pull the clip off, flipping through them.

One of my small family photos, with both my brothers on either side of me while I sat on a stool. This was before my second niece was born. They’d both surprised me by tickling me and the photographer had snapped the photo. I loved this photo.

A picture my mom had taken after my second niece was born. She was a new baby, and I was holding her from the first time. Immediately following it was me holding my first niece for the first time four years prior.

The group shot from the color war. Celeste, Layla, Natasha, Maddi, and I, with a few other friends who weren’t with us, were team pink. We didn’t just all wear pink that day in clothes (or red, for those who didn’t own pink), but I’d brought face paint. We were the only ones to go that far. Celeste had it on her calves. We’d won that day.

Addison and I for my 14th birthday party. Small year. I didn’t have many close friends in freshman year. I was awkward. A lot has changed.

I just flipped through them, tears swimming in my eyes, unable to continue, slamming them down. “Bring her in here. Now.”

Addison nods, running out. I looked at the photo I’d stopped on.

It was a group shot I didn’t remember getting taken. I assumed it wasn’t one of ours. It had almost all of us, save for Addison, after school, together, hanging out. I was looking at my sisters.

Not my friends, not my team, not my Order, but my sisters. I wasn’t an only child, but I was the only girl in my family for years. Both of my brothers had moved out by the time I was old enough to remember, anyways. I’d never had the chance to grow up with any sibling, but I had my sisters. We might not have been related by blood, but to look at us… you knew. They were the closest family I had.

Addison and I had known each other since we were in preschool. Though I wonder why we stayed close after I graduated and she didn’t (she was younger than me), I never minded. We’d been through everything together, and I knew we weren’t done yet.

I’d met Elizabeth in first grade. She moved, but she came back when we were in middle school. We’d grown close again as if we’d never let go of each other at all. So maybe we didn’t have the same amount of experience as Addison and I did, that was true, but we were still close.

Then, you had Natasha, Maddi, and Celeste. The four of us had gotten close two years ago, in a chemistry class with ten kids. And we’d grown a connection in that class. It wasn’t something we’d realized at the time would continue to grow and stay with us after, but it was, and we had it.

Layla and I met in freshman year, but it was only during the start of junior year (before the Scar took my family a year and six months ago—had it really already been that long?) that she and I became close. Jesse and I met in freshman year, too, but she and I stuck together all along. She was a very twisted person, but it was almost a comfort to me at this point. I know she’s dark, but I trust her. She’s tolerable once you get to know her.

But Teresa… it was hard to believe she’d do something like this. She was one of my best friends. She’d always been able to make me laugh and helped me out when times were tough. She hadn’t been the first, but she’d been one of the first to my aid when we found out about my family. She cared… and it was all a lie?

I looked back at the photo, snapping out of my thoughts. We were at the library together, sans Addison who didn’t live in the area. We had just been hanging out. Lizzie was there when band practice had been unexpectedly cancelled, and she’d found the rest of us already there. When this was snapped, I had been hugging her when she arrived. Maddi was standing right with Teresa, laughing about something Celeste had just said. Jesse was sulking where I’d just been standing. She liked to stand with me and make sarcastic comments. Layla and Natasha were standing near Maddi, watching her and Celeste in confusion.

I remembered that day. It was one of my last happy moments.

And now… to know that Teresa had a hand in taking those moments, of removing all my joy…

I couldn’t accept it.

Teresa walks in, bewildered as she looks at me, Addison on her heels. “What’s up, Vanessa?”

“Sit down,” I say, coming off colder than I meant to be. She deserved it, I guess. My eyes don’t leave the desk, I can’t bring myself to look at her. After all we’d been through…

She sits down, looking puzzled. “Vanessa, what’s this about?”

I pick up the file, holding it out to let her see it. “This.”

I hear her gasp. “Wait a minute…”

“Care to tell me where you got this from, Teresa?”

She sighs. “I don’t know. It was on my desk when I got here. I thought YOU knew what it was, if anything. I thought it was a debrief or something. Something you guys got on that last mission that I didn’t know about.”

“You expect me to believe that, Teresa?! You knew everything. You knew all of the information in this file.”

“Yeah, me and everyone else who knows you, Vanessa! I’m sorry, but you used to have a serious issue with constantly talking about everything and nothing. Everyone on this team knew what was going on in your life up until you lost your family, Vanessa. You didn’t stop talking about all of it.”

I look at her, my jaw dropping. _She didn’t just go there._

She sighs. “I’m sorry. I wanted to ask you as soon as I got it, Vanessa. Honest I did. I was distracted, it’s been pretty hectic since I got back, between all the welcoming and the trying to settle back in and Maddi and trying to adjust myself mentally to being back after being in the field for so long… it’s weird. I’m sorry I didn’t bring this to you.”

I look at her, then back at the file, sighing. “I don’t know if I can believe that, Teresa.”

“I understand. I would have issues, too, in your place.”

I look at her. She couldn’t be lying to me. She wouldn’t… she looked too scared, too open… too honest. And there was the whole thing with Maddi. She wouldn’t throw that away… would she?

“Okay, fine. I trust you… to an extent. I’m gonna be checking up on you randomly, got it, Teresa? I can’t have this risk right now. It’s too much on top of everything else.”

“I… I understand.”

I wave her out. “Go.”

She leaves, and Addison looks at me. “You actually trust her after all that?”

“Oh, hell no. I trust her about as far as I can throw her. And I can’t even pick her up like I can you. I want Celeste to set up 24/7 monitoring on her computer. You will monitor all activity on her phone, and I’ll pull random screenings at all times.”

“What about Maddi?”

“I can’t risk her knowing about this. I can’t…”

Addison smirks, nodding. “Consider it done, Vanessa. I’ll take care of all of it.” She takes off.

I nod to her, grateful for having someone like her. Even if I couldn’t be sure about anyone else, I had Addison. Sometimes, that was more than enough for me.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So who do you think it is?


	13. Chapter 12 (Elizabeth)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So I'm starting to get a better handle on the characters I don't give perspective on, hope this helps the story. Thanks for all the Kudos, this story is going better than I expected! Sorry this update took so long, I've been stuck on writer's block. As always, I'm open to ideas for some plot points. I know where the plot is going but I'm stuck on the how to get there. if you have any ideas, let me know!

I watched Teresa rush out of Nessa’s office, looking really upset. A moment later, Addison walked out, shaking her head slightly at something as she goes. I bite my lip, confused, deciding to go in and check on Nessa. She probably needed it, knowing her. She was easily upset and I feel like something happened that would upset her. I know her well.

I knock a bit, poking my head in. “Nes?”

She sniffs, looking up. “Hey, Liz…”

I smile a bit. “You seem like you need a friend.”

She sniffs, looking at me, trying to smile back, but just starting to sob suddenly. I sigh, heading in, closing the door quietly behind me as I go to her at her desk.

What I see is a surprise. I’m used to the pile of paperwork, files stacked to the ceiling mess on her desk, but when I go to her, I realize she’s shoved all of that off to the other side, letting it lie there in a massive mess. Besides her computer, the only thing on her desk was a file. It was flipped upside down, and something told me that asking about it would just make her hurt more. Instead, I pull a chair around, sitting beside her, hugging her close. “Hey… hey, it’s gonna be okay…”

She sniffs, crying hard, snuggling into me. I keep her in my arms, rubbing her back gently. For a moment, I realize just how wrapped up in her I am. I knew it was sad and awful circumstances and there was no denying it, but holding her… she almost felt… right. Keeping her here, holding her, it just felt right somehow. She almost seemed to fit against me. Having her here was just so… nice.

She sniffs, staying close for a moment, relaxing. Slowly, she looks up at me, seeming to remember where she was all over again, calming down as she pulls away. Typical. She’s bottling it up. The only one who’d know her full emotional scale about whatever it is will be Celeste. I sigh, rubbing her back softly, looking at her. “What happened? If you wanna talk about it.”

She trembles, her lip quivering as she looks back at me, shaking her head. I sigh, nodding in understanding, rubbing her back gently, trying to smile a little at her.

When she looks back at me, she straightens up, taking a deep breath. “Thanks, Lizzie. You didn’t have to…”

“I felt like I probably did need to. You need us girls in a time like this, Nessa. And I’m glad I can be here. You go through so much, sweetie, and you don’t have to always be strong. When you need to break down, I’ll be strong for both of us, okay?”

She looks at me, nodding slowly with a small trace of a smile. “Thank you. But… I always need to be strong for you. For all of my girls.”

 Man, I was taken with how cute she really was. Even just after crying, she had this look about her that just made me… swoon. She was so sweet and compassionate and…

And I have definitely fallen—and fallen hard, mind you—for my best friend. I wonder when that happened. I’m not really sure but somehow it feels good to admit it. I’m starting to realize I may be in love with her. I’m probably too young to know that of course, but with Nessa… well, I guess I’ll just stick with saying I felt SOMETHING for her, whatever it was. And this just made me wonder how she felt for me.

The others always laugh at something about the two of us when they think we can’t see. They have some kind of private joke about our interactions. I wonder what they see, too. I have a right to know.

Enough about that. We had too much to do for me to even think about it. Nessa suddenly blinks, looking at me, looking back at her computer, opening a file. “Order of the Girls.”

“What?”

“That’s what we should call ourselves. Easier to say than “those girls who want to destroy the Scar once and for all”, you know. And faster. We’re the Order of the Girls. The Order for short. It fits.”

I smile a bit. What a dork. She smiles back shyly, sniffing. “Sorry, I just… this has been on my mind for a while, on top of this disaster.” She waves to the pile of files she’d shoved to the floor.

I laugh a bit, nodding. “I see.”

She nods, smiling a bit, looking at me. “Anything else, Liz?”

 _Yes,_ I think, _there’s so much else, so many things I have to say, anything to keep me with you._

All I tell her is, “No, I just wanted to check up on you, Nes.”

She smiles, nodding, turning back to her work. “Well, I guess I’ll see you. Thanks so much.”

“Yeah, no problem.”

I hesitate, lingering where I am before slowly getting up, starting to head out, and then glancing back at her to find her watching me. She blushes, looking back down at her work. I smile a bit, heading out. There was nothing left to keep me there, even if I wanted to be there, I couldn’t. I had work to do.

I head back to my desk, literally bumping into Celeste as I go. She yelps, and I jump back, moving to help catch the file she dropped. I wince. “Sorry, Celeste. I wasn’t paying attention.”

“It’s okay, Elizabeth. You okay?”

I nod, brushing off as I hand her the file back. “Fine. You should probably go talk to Nessa. She’s gonna start shutting us out soon. I can feel it.”

“What makes you say that?”

“I went in, and she was crying. She cried for a minute, but then she pushed me off of her. We all know when she gets like this, she won’t talk to anyone but you.”

“Oh, yeah, that’s true. Thanks for the heads up.”

“Thanks for watching out for her.”

“Of course.”

With that, we both turn, heading our separate ways. I didn’t understand her friendship with Nessa. But I didn’t care. As long as it was just that, a friendship, then I didn’t care how unlike each other they are, or how close they were. Wow, I sound like some jealous girlfriend. I have to remind myself that Nessa’s free to pursue whatever interest she has. Even if it’s none at all. Even if it’s not me. It hurts, but if she’s happy, that’s all that matters. Besides, the way they were… it probably was more. I needed to keep that in mind.

I get back to my desk, settling into my work, reading an article I’d found on the Scar’s latest actions. I scan the page, confused. It was so… toned down, compared to what had happened that had made us the Order. She had forced us to be the Order with the same force she had brought upon the world when she took over. But this… this wasn’t intense. It was scaled back, almost like she was… like maybe what had happened to us was…

A planned hit.

 _No wonder Nessa was so upset,_ I realize in shock. _She must know this._ _What happened to us, what the Scar did to us… it was all plotted, premeditated, against us on purpose. We were officially targeted. But what would make her target us? Why would she…_

My mind goes reeling, but my thoughts are interrupted by a knock on my desk. I turn to follow the hand to its source. Jesse smiles… smirks? Both? Anyways, makes that face at me, nodding to an empty seat questioningly, as if asking to sit. I nod, waving her over, closing the article as I do. “Hey, Jesse. What’s up?”

She sits down, smiling a bit. “So, Elizabeth, you and Vanessa are pretty close, right?”

“Well, I mean, I guess… listen, Jesse, I really don’t know if we should be delving into this right now…”

“Oh, this won’t take long, all right?”

I sigh, nodding. Why didn’t she talk to Celeste? The two were probably having some secret affair anyways. There was nobody closer to her, after all. And all the quiet, alone meetings… “All right, sure.”

She smiles. “So, like I was saying. Do you know what just happened in there with her, Addison, and Teresa?”

“No. I just know it really upset her and she’s really hurt right now because of it. Why?”

“Oh, just curious. I mean, if we didn’t have Vanessa, we’d all be screwed, right?”

“Well… I mean, I guess so.”

That was a pessimistic view, though. I didn’t really think so. Nessa may be the closest we had to a leader but that didn’t mean we’d just fall apart without her. We could manage ourselves, couldn’t we? I mean, we had before, as a group of friends, not as her team of course, but as friends. We would be fine even without her. We were all close, and this cause meant so much to all of us nowadays. At least, I certainly hope so. We wouldn’t just fall apart.

Right?

I snap out of my thoughts, realizing Jesse had spoken. “Sorry. What did you say?”

Jesse chuckles a bit. It sounds kind of cold, but then, Jesse was never known for sounding like or being the friendly one. She and Nessa only really got close because in freshman year the two ended up sitting together in French class… and never moving, because Nessa requested to stay with her because she was comfortable speaking French with her. “I just asked if you think Vanessa would make a move again soon.”

“No, I doubt it. She’s the type to want a better plan, you know?”

“Oh, yeah, that’s true. Okay, I won’t keep you any longer. Thanks, Elizabeth.”

I nod with a smile, watching her leave a bit before turning back to my computer, staring blankly at the screen, deciding to reopen the article and jog my thoughts.

I didn’t understand. Why were we targeted? What would call for that? What did we do?

And most importantly, did she know we were still out here? What would she do if she knew we were fighting her now, because of what happened? How would she stop us? Realistically, how did she know about us before we started our fight back?

It didn’t make any sense, none of it did. I sighed, shaking my head as I stared at the article blankly. I don’t know. I wish I had some sort of idea of what was going on. Nessa would be able to make sense of things. But Nessa was upset. I couldn’t spring this on her, not when I’d come into her office and found her pretty much crying.

She might be our tough leader, the one who wasn’t afraid of backing down, and overall scary protective girl, but under all that, I still saw the girl I’d known before. She was a child at heart, sensitive, maybe a bit naïve at times, sure, but still overall just… sympathetic. She wasn’t anything like the façade everyone saw. She was something completely different and completely beautiful.

The problem is that she couldn’t be that in this world.

In this world, we finally could understand the laws of the jungle. Eat or be eaten was the primary rule we followed out here. And honestly, if she hadn’t toughened up like she did, Nessa would have been eaten. And this would have died before it began. I’m glad she managed to adapt with it. Now that she’s toughened up, she’s just as bit as powerful as some of the worst, which was something she always had the potential for.

I’m not sure if the others were aware of this fact. When it comes to Nessa, if she hadn’t been the person she had been before the Scar had killed her family, she could easily overthrow the Scar for the sheer purpose of taking her place. Sure, I knew and could not deny that her emotional state is impairing her from showing her full strength right now. But I know Nessa. If she hadn’t been so sweet before, if she hadn’t cared as much as she had, if she’d been less compassionate… she could be the true criminal mastermind.

Nessa was a terrifying prospect. Not that any of us were any better. Even in our “good” positions.

Celeste… I wasn’t convinced Celeste wasn’t a double agent or something. She was the true tech queen, but she can’t get into one stupid laptop? I call bull. Something’s definitely up. Celeste is dark, and completely without emotion and without compassion. She’s been like that for as long as I’ve known her. Granted, that’s not very long, but from what I’d heard from Maddi and Nessa before everything happened, she’d pretty much always been like that. Even way before the Scar. I don’t trust her in the slightest. I just know she calms Nessa down.

Maddi, well, Maddi knows everything. Every piece of information we had was hers. Anything we learned on the information front was from her. She might collect it from others, but it was her. Maddi didn’t just know the enemy, though. She knew us. She had everything on all of us. She knew how to twist the information, too, make it look like we had something we don’t or vice versa. She knew exactly how to fill in the missing details… on a bluff. There was too much risk with her.

Layla is far too easy to open up to. That’s the best way I can put it. Layla probably knows our deepest secrets as well as we do. There’s something about her that makes us all trust her so naturally. Well, except Celeste. I think the two used to date. So there was that, but other than that… besides, Layla was our distractor for a reason. She was good at it. She knew what she was doing. At this point, she could just be distracting us to keep us from knowing she wasn’t with us.

Teresa was in undercover for so long. So many periods of silence, never knowing what she was doing, where she was. She worked under the Scar (way, way under her) for so long. Who knows what that kind of work can do to a girl? She was quiet to begin with. Sure, not too nosey from what I saw, but she’d already proven she had the skills to work for the enemy anyways. Even if it hadn’t been true, she’d done it. She knew how.

Natasha was so… in the background. You didn’t notice her unless you were looking. She blended in with the crowd. She’d get anything out of anybody without them ever knowing she was even nearby. She was clever, too. She knew how to hide something on her person so that you’d never know it was there.

Addison was that person you let yourself get too close to. You may open up to Layla, but you trust Addison. You let her get way too close, thinking she’s doing the same for you. Suddenly, it all blows up in your face when you’re faced with an ultimate fight and she’s standing at the side of your enemy. That’s what I saw with Addison.

Jesse… huh. I don’t know how to describe why Jesse’s no better. I never knew her before, and I barely see her now. She just… shows up. That’s pretty concerning, actually. Jesse is the ultimate spy. She’s sneaky, clever, and a really tough fighter. I’m glad she’s on our side, actually. She’d be able to uproot everything we know if she weren’t on our side.

I was a vulnerability in others. I knew that. I was the femme fatale for a reason. I could make someone fall completely for me. I would be their weakness. They would go through anything to ensure my safety. I could lead them right into a trap, and they wouldn’t even care, because they’d think they were coming to save me. I was too manipulative for this. I was evil in that respect.

I sigh, closing the article, deciding not to share my findings with the others. If they knew they’d been targeted, that the powerful mental wounds we’d suffered were specifically meant for us, I don’t think they’d all be able to work to their best again. They’d always have that weight of the fact that we were targeted and forced to grow up way to soon hanging over them.

I sigh, going into my research. There had to be something we could do soon. We had to take our opportunity well. We had to be strong. We had to win, because this world would never stand up against her. If we were gonna be forced into this war, we were gonna fight, and we were gonna win. That was the only possibility I could possibly accept.

It was the only possibility we could afford.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can message me on my tumblr, @idiotspartyof5 (I'm more likely to see it there) to learn the next plot point and give me suggestions on how to get there!


	14. Chapter 13 (Celeste)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> See, this is what I meant by depth to their character. As things went on I decided to build the bonds between different characters.

I knocked lightly at Vanessa’s door. There was no response inside. That wasn’t a good sign. There were a number of reasons she doesn’t respond. Most of them were terrifying. “Vanessa?”

A quiet gasp inside reassured me that we weren’t in the worst case scenario yet. Thank god. I mean, we already knew there was a double agent amongst us. At least, I did. I think Addison thought so, too. It had been too easy for that guy. He went straight to Elizabeth and tried to catch the rest of them. It was by sheer dumb luck we’d pulled through.

I turn the handle, finding it locked. “Come on. Don’t go through this alone. It doesn’t work.”

I didn’t mean to throw her words back at her. She told me that when I’d tried to lock her out when I’d lost my family. Turns out, she was right. I’d needed her.

She sighs. Presently, I hear the lock click, and the door opens.

Vanessa’s definitely been crying. She looks like her heart was just ripped out of her chest… again. She’s realized we have a double, hasn’t she? God, she handpicked all of us. I’d hoped we could figure everything out before she caught on and minimize the pain. Maybe get rid of the double and tell her something about them just… vanishing. But there was no chance of that now. I could see that.

“Come on, then. Before I change my mind.”

I shake my head a bit as I step in, hugging her tightly as she closes the door. She sniffs, hugging me back, and I feel her body jerk as she starts sobbing. Probably not for the first time. I rub her back gently, pulling her over towards the couch, pushing the bedding aside and sitting us both down, holding onto her. She sobs, shaking, her breathing staggered and shaken, let out in weak, emotional bursts.

I just hold onto her, trying to look at her. “Vanessa.”

She trembles, keeping her head turned away. I reach out, brushing her shortened hair back out of her face, gently rubbing her cheek. “Come on.”

She doesn’t look at me. One emotional word suddenly rips from her mouth. “Teresa.”

“What?”

“She had a file. It wasn’t one of ours. It had every detail about us. Everything. How we knew each other, how close we are… and it kept referring back to a “confidant”. She… it…”

I swallow back a gasp, holding onto her. I couldn’t believe that. I don’t think Vanessa could, either. Otherwise, Teresa would already be gone, and we’d be moving on. No, that didn’t sound right. Teresa had Maddi. Teresa would stay with Maddi. And Maddi was with us.

Wait. Maddi. Maddi had access to all of our technology. Maddi was our information control. There wasn’t a single thing we knew that didn’t go through Maddi. Was it possible…?

No. I needed to stop thinking like this. Right now, Vanessa was much more important. More important than beating my (supposedly) fairly good friend’s skull in with a potted plant (though the idea certainly has merit). Vanessa looks at me, trembling, starting to cry, shaking her head a bit as she looks at me. “I trusted her. I trust all of you. But right now, I don’t know who I can trust. Maybe Teresa doesn’t know anything. Maybe someone planted this on her desk. Maybe it _is_ Teresa. Maybe she’s working with someone. I can’t do this, Celeste. I got everything wrong. I’m going to get us killed. You would make a better leader than me. Or Addison. Just not me. I shouldn’t even be here. I should be with my family. I can’t keep—“

 _Stop her, you idiot!_ “Hey, hey, hey, whoa there, Vanessa. What are you saying? Do you even know what that would do to us?”

She sniffles, looking at me. “Make it better. You wouldn’t have a mess in charge.”

I shake my head, turning her to sit crisscross on the couch, doing the same, facing her, grabbing her hands. “Deep breath in.”

She sighs sadly, complying slowly. As she does, I make my first point. “One. You can do this. If you couldn’t do this, we wouldn’t be here. We wouldn’t have been here for almost a year. Stop saying you can’t do this when you already have been. Out.”

As she lets out her breath, I make my next point. “Two. You don’t get everything wrong. If you got everything wrong, we wouldn’t have had that meeting with the Scar. We wouldn’t have been considered a threat if you were doing everything wrong, because if you were doing everything wrong, so would the rest of us. Again.”

She seems to be relaxing as she takes her next deep breath in. I continue. “Three. You’re not gonna get us killed. Sure, some things have gotten intense. But if we didn’t want that, if we didn’t take the action upon ourselves, it wouldn’t be like that at all. We wouldn’t be here. We may get ourselves killed, that’s true. But you need to know that it was our decision. On my life, to the end. Remember? Even if the end comes shorter for some of us over others. We made that oath. We chose to do this. If we get killed, it’s on us. Not you. Out.”

She looks at me, slowly letting out the breath, tears in her eyes. She was worried, but she was listening. I rub her back a bit as I kept going. Just like I always did. “Four. I wouldn’t come close to making a better leader than you. Neither would Addison. It has to be you. The others don’t like me. They don’t get why I’m close to you. Layla flat out hates me. They wouldn’t listen to me even if I had a commanding presence. They need to trust me. They need to understand me. They can’t do that. And Addison? Barely knows any of us. She can’t lead us when she doesn’t know us. She won’t understand any of us. Nor will we understand her. Addison has a way of doing things that we wouldn’t follow well. You understand and know all of us. You’re the only one capable of leading this group. Again.”

She nods slowly, taking her deep breath in. “Five. You absolutely should be here. We wouldn’t be anywhere without you. We wouldn’t be anything without you. Whatever you believe, just know that we need you more than anything else we could ever have. More than lost family. More than winning this fight. It’s not gonna be a worthy win without you. You’re saving the world, yes, but you’re saving us, too. And out.”

She slowly releases her last deep breath and I make my last point with absolute certainty. “Six. You _are_ with your family. Even your blood family. You’re keeping them alive better than anybody could. You’re in this fight for them. You say it’s for the world, you’ll admit it’s for us to be happy. But the truth is, you’re here in their memory. You’re avenging their deaths. It’s scary. I’m not gonna lie about that. But it’s real. And every door we open, every shred of information we get, everything we win in this long running fight… that’s them. That’s them showing you that you’re doing the right thing for them. That’s them promising you that you’re making them proud. I know you are. I barely knew your family, but I know that if your nieces were here, they’d pick you as their favorite superhero any day.”

She looks at me, tears starting to roll down her cheeks again. It wasn’t the same thing this time, though. She manages to smile a bit at me. “Thanks, Celeste. I… I needed that.”

I nod. “Of course, Vanessa. You know I’m always here for you, don’t you?”

She nods slowly. Like that, her smile was gone. It hadn’t come close to what it used to be, but it had happened. “And I’m always here for you. You know that.”

“Of course. How could I forget?”

I ruffle her hair affectionately. She sniffs, looking at me, poking me in the side. I grunt, curling away from her hand. “Hey!”

She smiles shakily. “All right. Anything else?”

“Nope. I’ll… I’ll be checking up on the whole Teresa thing. I don’t want you looking into this any more than you have to. I know it’s gonna hurt you to do it.”

“Thanks. I appreciate it. And, um… don’t tell Maddi.”

“I mean, that was a given. As long as Teresa doesn’t tell her.”

Vanessa chuckles a bit. “Yeah, as long as that doesn’t happen. Thanks again.”

“Of course.”

She gets up, heading over towards her desk, picking up a file off the floor as she does. I sigh. That was my cue to leave. So I got up, heading on out, glancing back at my best friend as I left. She seemed a little better, at least.

Next, Maddi. I had to straighten a few things out. I knew Teresa wasn’t the traitor. Maddi was the one I had to question. It was interesting how we let her handle all the information. Especially with this new detail coming to light.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A lot of accusations are going. Feel free to comment who you wanna accuse of being a double agent (if you even think there is one, of course!)


End file.
